December 21, 2012

Chhattisgarh first with food security law


The Chhattisgarh Assembly Friday enacted a landmark legislation by unanimously passing the Food Security Act, becoming the first state in the country to introduce such a law, covering several deprived sections of society left out by existing welfare programmes.
The law also takes a major step to empower women by considering the eldest woman in a household as its head in matters related to the ration card.
“This is a historic day for me and the Chhattisgarh Assembly. I will never forget it,” Chief Minister Raman Singh said. The law, which will be implemented by local bodies, is operational with immediate effect.
The Act considers entitlements under both public distribution system (PDS) and non-PDS on a household basis and not per person and places them under the Chhattisgarh Lok Seva Guarantee Act 2011.