(Top) Naveen Patnaik
and Sanjay Das Burma

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 7: The Naveen Patnaik government will recast the National Food Security Act to continue its Re 1-a-kg-rice scheme and, in the process, save subsidy to the tune of Rs 1,300 crore per annum.

The populist rice scheme has paid rich electoral dividends to the BJD in the last two general elections.

'We are committed to the people to provide rice at Re 1 per kg to the poor,' state's food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Das Burma told The Telegraph.

'The central government has allowed a cap of 78 per cent of the state's population to be covered under the act. According to the 2011 population census, 3.26 crore priority individuals in the state will be covered,' he said.

Under the act, the Centre will provide 5kg of rice per person per month at Rs 3 per kilogram.

The act came into effect across the country since September 2013. The state government has sought time till September this year for its implementation.

Official sources made it clear that under the act, the state government has the freedom to continue or formulate food or nutrition-based plan or scheme providing for benefits higher than that provided under the act from its own resources.

At present, as against the market price of Rs 25.80 paise per kg, the Centre is providing subsidy of Rs 19.37 paise per kg for rice to nearly 61 lakh families. The state government gives subsidy another Rs 5.43 per kg to make the rice available at Re 1 per kg.

Once the act comes into effect, an eligible person will be entitled to get 5kg of rice per month at Rs 3 per kg.Official sources said the state government would provide another Rs 2 instead of Rs 5.43 towards per kg subsidy to make the rice available at Re 1.

At present, 61.02 lakh families are covered under the Re-1-a-kg-rice scheme of the state government. The beneficiaries include 36.88 lakh BPL families, 5.29 lakh above poverty line (APL) families of the undivided Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts. However, there will be no BPL or APL category after the implementation of the central scheme.

The issue today figured in the Assembly with Das Burma assuring the members that the act would be implemented in the state positively and digitised ration cards would be distributed among the eligible beneficiaries by August.

The pilot phase of providing digitalised ration cards to the beneficiaries has been completed in certain areas of Bhubaneswar. The roll out phase for the rest of the state has started fromJanuary 28, he said.

A Congress member said the national food security scheme was a dream project of the UPA government. 'The state government is trying to derive political mileage by printing the photographs of the chief minister in the application forms for ration cards,' said Congress chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati.