The Jharkhand State Food Commission (JSFC) will conduct public hearings at district level from July 18 after glaring irregularities in the implementation of the provision of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) were found in the state.

JSFC chairman Himanshu Shekhar Choudhary said they would be starting their initiative from Palamau district in Jharkhand.

“We have been listening to the irregularities in the implementation of the NFSA be it in ration distribution, supply of food items in anganwadis (a child care centre as part of the Integrated Child Development Services programme of the Union government to combat child hunger and malnutrition) and mid-day meals in schools. This has made us go to the districts itself and hold dialogues with the beneficiaries and know the exact status. We have decided to kick-off the initiative from Palamau from where we had received the maximum number of complaints,” Choudhary told The Telegraph.

A survey by the Right to Food Campaign, a non-profit fighting for hunger and food rights, last year had revealed that 45 per cent of children in the age group of three to six years did not receive supplementary nutrition during the first six months of this year at the anganwadi centres during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Not only these children, but 68 per cent of kids between six months and three years, and pregnant and lactating women did not receive take-home ration (THR) as part of their nutrition entitlements in the same period.

On an average, 55 per cent of surveyed beneficiaries did not receive supplementary nutrition in the state.

“We would be meeting the newly elected mukhiyas (village heads) in the recently held panchayat elections and inform them about the NFSA-2013 provisions and the rights of the beneficiaries and their role in ensuring that villagers are covered under food security,” Choudhary said. “This apart we would be conducting public hearings at select villages and also conduct surprise inspections of villages to find the loopholes,” he said.

The commission chairman who had met governor Ramesh Bais last month also informed that they would be inspecting anganwadi centres and government schools covered under mid-day meal programme and see the hygiene aspect along with basic facilities such as drinking water and the nutritious diet mandated under the rules are being given at the centres and schools. “The governor has asked us to submit a detailed report on the status of the NFSA-2013 after our visit to districts,” Choudhary said.

Apart from Palamau, other districts which has significant number of pending cases related to irregularities in implementation of NFSA-2013 include Giridih, Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Chatra, Ramgarh, Garhwa, Godda, Hazaribagh, Koderma and West Singhbhum.

State convener of the Right to Food campaign Asarfi Nand Prasad claimed that irregularities like siphoning of ration meant for bonafide card holders, giving less amount of ration and holding back rations are prevalent in almost all districts of the state.

“It is a good initiative by the commission. Earlier, the commission used to act on receiving complaints from the district. Now it has taken the initiative to reach out to the beneficiaries to listen to their grievances. We would have to wait to see if the initiative succeeds in instilling a sense of fear among violators or not,” Gupta said.