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Dimapur, May 23 (EMN): Zeliangrong Civil Organisations (ZCOs) on Sunday highlighted the gross discrepancies in the distribution of rice under the Prime Minister Garib Kaylan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and other flagship programmes in the state.
In a statement on Sunday, ZCOs stated that the National Food Security Act (NPSA) 2013 provides five kilogram of rice per person per month free of cost and 35 kg of rice per AAY card holder at the same rate of INR 3/kg per month. Meanwhile, the government of India had announced the PMGKAY programme in March 2020 which is to provide five kilogram of rice per person for citizens during the continuing period of pandemic in addition and without curtailing the existing NPSA and AAY card holder’s monthly quota entitlements.
“The actual quantity of rice supposed to get by those card holders is depending on the size and numbers of family members of the respective household which means a family having five to seven members may get about 60 to 70 kgs of rice per month in altogether of NPSA and AAY card holders plus PMGKAY in a month but this is not so happened in reality. And those citizens who are not covered under the category of NPSA and AAY card holders especially who are staying as tenants in different locations are greatly affected by the pandemic situation therefore the Govt. is appealed to strictly monitor and supervise the overall rice distribution system so as to ensure that all deserving citizens of the State get their share of rice under PMGKAY programme during this hard times,” it read.
It however claimed that reports of not maintaining uniformity in the quantity of rice distribution varying from ‘place to place and village to village’ had emerged as “2 kgs or 3 kgs or 4 kgs per household and the same quantity is provided per person sometimes.”
“The purpose of the flagship programme is to give nutritional support to the people at a time when the country is facing a second wave of the pandemic. But the quantity, fixation and distribution of rice based on the total number of households of village or locality without counting the actual total living numbers of the family members who lived in each household is not a justifiable ground for distribution of rice. It is quite unimaginable for those families having about 10 or more family members to manage with only 2 kg or 3 kg or 4 kg of rice given as the family household share even though those small families can somehow manage for one or two meals,” read the statement.
It has therefore requested the authorities to direct and instruct those individuals who are engaged, assigned and entrusted with the task of distribution of rice for the general public “to maintain quantity uniformity in rice distribution as well as to ensure all citizens get their deserved share without any form of deprivation”.