AGARTALA, September 2 (TIWN): On yet another irregularities unearthed in implementation of national food security act here in Tripura, Minister for state food and civil supplies Bhanulal Saha on Tuesday confessed it but failed to give a reasonable clarification. According to the government plan under the NFSA the Below Poverty Line (BPL) holders would be provided rice at the rate of Rs. 2 per kg instead of Rs. 3 per kg as stipulated in the act announced by the centre.

The state cabinet had also decided the non-priority households - APL, which are outside the ambit of NFSA, would be provided rice at the rate of Rs. 13 per kg and 5 kg per head per month subject to maximum 15 kg a family instead of the existing 20 kg a family per month.

Interestingly it has been unearthed that the government acting wise decided to take money from the APL holders of the state in the name of Rs. 13 per kg of rice and would use the money in providing rice to BPL holders at the rate of Rs. 2 per kg.

Asked about the irregularities Minister Bhanulal Saha on Tuesday failing to provide a reasonable clarification confessed it.

To provide food grain subsidy for priority households, the additional annual expenditure from the state government exchequer would be Rs. 16.73 crore, the cabinet earlier decided but surprisingly the ultimate money would be taken from the APL holders which have come out to be illegal.

People are in opinion that the government could have taken the money in the name of tax payment but in the name of providing rice at such high cost government cannot take the money from APL holders.

However, the NFSA was passed by parliament in 2013 and the deadline for implementing the same has been extended thrice. According to a central government report, the NFSA has been implemented by 13 states and two union territories only.

To implement the NFSA, the entire TPDS system has to be computerised and the ration cards must be digitised.