By Bizodisha Bureua, Bhubaneswar, September 5, 2015 : The Odisha government has decided to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 14 districts from November 1 in two phases. The first phase will be rolled out from November 1.

Around 52 lakh beneficiaries have been identified so far by cancelling about 73 lakh beneficiaries from the list, according to food supplies and consumer welfare department secretary Madhusudan Padhi on Saturday said.

Earlier, the department had directed the concerned district collectors to provide ration cards to the eligible beneficiaries by October 10. The department also had asked to provide ration cards to the beneficiaries in remaining 16 districts by October 31, Padhi added.

In a written communiqué to these 14 district collectors, the department has asked them to prepare a database of eligible beneficiaries by September 14.

About 51 lakh beneficiaries have been identified as eligible after weeding out about 73 lakh ineligible applicants. People who did not meet the eligibility criteria had registered their names for availing benefits under the NFSA in the state while the Centre has allowed the state to provide benefits of the NFSA to 3.26 crore people of the state’s total population of 4.21 crore.

The state government has suspended about 60 employees, including 17 in Ganjam district alone, on charges of violation of NFSA norms. About 2.5 lakh employees have so far opted out of the NFSA list, official sources revealed.

Under the scheme, about 3.26 crore people of the State will get 5 kg of rice or wheat at discounted price after implementation of the NFSA.