Meghalaya CM slams Centre for not including sugar under NFSA

Ampati (Meghalaya), June 21 (PTI): Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today slammed the Centre for not including sugar under the National Food Security Act, 2013 and said the state will provide one kg sugar to every household in the state.
“The Centre has failed to listen to us and discontinued the distribution of sugar from the programme (NFSA). But we have decided to work out the modalities from our own resources to continue providing sugar apart from rice,” he said while addressing at a public meeting here.
“Though we will not be able to provide 3 kg per household, we will continue to give sugar at 1 kg per household from the state s own resources”, he said.
Meghalaya is the only state in the country to provide 3 kg packaged sugar under the National Food Security programme, but the distribution of sugar has been recently withdrawn by the Central Government.
The Chief Minister also distributed certificates of appreciation to wholesalers and fair price shop dealers here as a token of the state government s appreciation for their contribution in successfully implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. “The state government has been able to address the challenges of implementation of the Act in terms of distribution through the active support and partnership of different stakeholders, particularly the wholesalers and fair price shop dealers,” he said. According to the Chief Minister, the programme is a mark of acknowledgement by the government for their hard work and all the hardship they have to undergo in lifting, handling and transporting the commodities to make them reach to the beneficiaries. Terming the National Food Security Mission as the biggest Food Security Programme in the world, the Chief Minister said it is a commitment of the Government designed for the needy which has been mandated by a law which is binding on the authorities to take care of the citizens.