IMPHAL, December 26: The Centre has already extended the deadline for the States to implement the National Food Security Act in a few months, however, the State could face severe financial difficulties in implementing the Act Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh told media persons during an inspection of the Sangaiprou FCI godown today.
Replying to media queries, he said the Act could be anytime implemented in the State now considering the Centre`™s directive to all States, however, it would be next to impossible to implement the Act in the State without any Central assistance, as the State is reeling under financial contraints at the moment and as the State has no independent economic resources.
Under the NSFA, the Below Poverty Line households will get rice at Rs 3 per kg instead of Rs 8 per kg and as such the government has to bear a loss of Rs 5 per kg, he said adding that the State government is in no position to do so unless the Centre provide some subsidy.
Some States have already begun implementing the Act, however, Manipur is among those States which are unable to implement the Act on their own, the Chief Minister said.
He said over and above the price of the item, the government will have to spend more to transport the supplies to the district head-quarters.
The FCI is responsible for the transportation of goods upto the district head-quarters whereas the State has to bear the charges for transportation to the sub-divisional head-quarters, he continued.
While, some districts like Senapati and Ukhrul have their own godowns, others like Imphal East, Bishnupur, Tamenglong and Chandel are awaiting approval for the construction of godowns although the sites have been already identified, Ibobi said.
He continued that his visit was to identify more sites for godowns as the existing godowns are not equipped to store the State`™s required capacity.
His government, Ibobi said, is planning to construct another 5000 MT capacity godown adjacent to the FCI godown, Sangaiprou.
Meanwhile, the concerned minister Moirangthem Okendro said the government is trying to import 50000 MT of rice from Myanmar, and contractors have already been selected through tenders and the transportation of the rice was set to start from December 20, however, it has been deferred till the early part of January 2015.