New Delhi: Congress MP and the party’s parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi said that about 14 crore people are being deprived of benefits under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) due to the delay in conducting the decadal census, and demanded that the Union government conduct the exercise at the earliest.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Monday (February 10) during matters raised with the permission of the Chair, Sonia Gandhi said that the NFSA, introduced by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, was a landmark initiative aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security for the country’s 140 crore population. She said it played a crucial role in protecting millions from starvation during the Covid-19 pandemic and forms the basis of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
“Under the NFSA, 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population are entitled to receive subsidised food grains. However, the quota for beneficiaries is still determined based on the 2011 Census which is now well over a decade-old. For the first time in independent India’s history, the Census has been delayed for more than four years. Originally scheduled for 2021, there is still no clarity on when it will be conducted,” she said.
“The Budget allocations reveal that the updated census is unlikely to be conducted this year as well. As a result, around 14 crore eligible Indians are being deprived of their rightful benefits under the NFSA. It is imperative that the government prioritises the completion of the census as soon as possible. Food security is not a privilege but a fundamental right.”
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’16 critical datasets delayed’
Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri of the Satark Nagrik Sangathan and the Right to Food Campaign have written in The Wire that had the 2021 census been published and the NFSA coverage revised accordingly, an estimated 10 crore people would have been added to the food security net.
In the Union Budget 2025 presented on February 1, only Rs 574.80 crore were allocated for the the census, hinting at the unlikelihood of its completion this year.
In December 2019, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for conducting census in 2021 at a cost of Rs 8,754.23 crore and updating the National Population Register (NPR) at Rs 3,941.35 crore, PTI has reported.
Due to the delay in the conduct of the census, 16 critical datasets are delayed and nine ministries are yet to release their annual reports affecting policy-making and weakening transparency, IndiaSpend has previously reported.
