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NFSA

PDS

TPDS under National Food Security Act, 2013

National Food Security Act, 2013 was enforced by an Act of the Parliament after receiving the assent of the President on the 10th day of September, 2013 (No. 20 of 2013) The Act provides for coverage of 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two thirds of the population.

The National Food Security Act, 2013  provides for two categories of beneficiaries to be covered under TPDS, that is,  households under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) , which constitute the poorest of the poor and Priority Households (PHH). The eligible households under AAY and PHH are entitled to receive foodgrains at subsidized prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains. The Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households are entitled to receive 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month while the PHH category is entitled to 5 kg of rice per person per month.

The Act also lays special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Besides meal to pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the child birth, such women are entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6000. Children upto 14 years of age are entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional standards.

The Department set upon the task of notifying the  Sikkim Food Security Rules, 2014  in accordance to Section 40 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (20 of 2013) which  empowers state government to frame its Food Security Rules. The Sikkim Food Security Rules, 2014 was notified vide Notification No. 1166/FCS&CA dated 20/01/2015 and published in the Government Gazette.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 was implemented in our state with effect from the 1st January, 2016

Selection Criteria of AAY and PHH

  • Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY)

The State Government followed the Government of India’s Order No. 6(5)/2005-PD I dated 12/05/2005 which provide for the following criteria  for  identification of households following under AAY scheme:-

  1. Landless agricultural households;

  2. Marginal Farmers;

  3. Rural artisans/craftsman;

  4. Slum dwellers;

  5. Persons earning their livelihood on a daily basis in the informal sector in both rural and urban areas;

  6. Households  headed by widows or terminally ill persons/ disabled/ persons aged 60 or more having no assured means of subsistence or societal support;

  7. Widows or terminally ill persons/ disabled/ persons aged 60 years or more having no assured means of subsistence or societal support;

  8. Eligible BPL families of HIV positive persons.

  • Priority Households (PHH)

The criteria for selection of PHH beneficiaries were laid down in the Food Security Rules, 2014 as under:  

    All economically weaker households shall be included under Priority Households (PHH) subject to the following criteria:

  1. The households shall not have any member in the regular service of State Government/Central Government/Public Sector Undertaking/Army etc.
  2. The households shall not have any retired government servant as member of their family;
  3. The households shall not have any member in the work-charge service in State Government/Central Government/Public Sector undertaking etc.
  4. The households shall not own a taxi or private vehicle in the name of any of the family member;
  5. The household shall not own Pucca House (CMRH & REDRH houses are excluded)
  6. The households should not be earning house rent more than Rs. 10000 a month from their dwelling house;
  7. The household shall not have any member enlisted as government contractor in class I, IA, 2 & 3 categories with sound socio-economic background;
  8. The household shall not possess more than 2.5 acres of cultivable land or 5 acres of barren land;
  9. The household shall not have agriculture/floriculture/animal husbandry related commercial ventures earning more than Rs. 1.20 lakhs per annum or any other source;

               All selected households shall possess either of the following documents:

  1. Sikkim Subject Certificate (SSC)
  2. Certificate of Identification(COI)
  3. Voter ID Card issued by the Election Department;
  4. Ration Card surrender certificate issued by the Food & Civil Supplies Department of the respective State Government, in case the applicant beneficiary is from outside the State.