Odisha outshines all in State Ranking Index for NFSA 2022

BHUBANESHWAR, Odisha: Odisha has emerged as the top performing state, followed by Uttar Pradesh, in the first edition of ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA 2022- creating resilient food systems to optimize the delivery of benefits’, which was released by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, on July 5, 2022.

The State Ranking Index was released by Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, at the conference of Food Ministers on Food & Nutrition Security in India, held in New Delhi.

In the Index, the performance of states and union territories are ranked based on three key pillars, aimed at ensuring end-to-end implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), through TPDS. The three key pillars are (i) NFSA – coverage, targeting and provisions of the act, (ii) delivery platforms, and (iii) nutrition initiatives.

Since the implementation of the National Food Security Act in the state in 2015, Odisha has made significant efforts to ensure end-to-end computerisation of TPDS operations. The state has created a digitalised database of 3.25 crore beneficiaries, which can be updated through 378 Ration Card Management System (RCMS) Centers, and there is at least one RCMS in 314 Blocks and 64 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of the state.

Apart from that, all the 152 storage depots of the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department have achieved 100 per cent automation, which helps in real-time electronic recording of doorstep delivery of 1.87 lakh MT food grains at 12,133 Fair Price Shops in the state every month. All the Fair Price shops are provided with electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices, which ensure distribution to PDS through automation.

Also, the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) programme has been implemented in the state since July 2021, intra-state and inter-state portability option is also available to PDS beneficiaries, who also have the option to choose any fair price shops as per their convenience to receive their monthly entitlements. Approximately 1.10 lakh families receive ration through the intra-state facility and nearly 533 families are provided ration through the inter-state facility every month. Total 10,578 fair price shops out of 12,206 have been made ONORC enabled. This number will go up as soon as the network connectivity in the area of other fair price shops improves.

‘Supply of Fortified Rice under Public Distribution in Malkangiri district’- a pilot scheme is also being implemented since July 2021. Nearly 1.29 Lakh families, including 4.66 lakh members, are supplied 3138 MT fortified rice under NFSA & State Food Security Scheme. Additionally, the state administration has started providing fortified rice to the School & Mass Education Department for the PM-POSHAN programme and the Department of Women and Child Development for the SNP programme. 

All the initiatives fetched a score of 0.836 for Odisha, making it the top performer in general category states, followed by Uttar Pradesh with a score of 0.797 and Andhra Pradesh with a score of 0.794.

In the special state category, Tripura was ranked first with a total score of 0.788 followed by Himachal Pradesh with a score of 0.758 and Sikkim was in third place with a score of 0.710.