Jaipur, July 23: The Rajasthan government has significantly expanded the coverage of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), now reaching over 10 million eligible beneficiaries. Officials attribute this achievement to the state’s “Give Up” campaign, where financially capable beneficiaries voluntarily relinquished their ration rights.
Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sumit Godara reported that approximately 9.35 million financially capable beneficiaries opted out of NFSA benefits, allowing 10,056,511 new individuals to access food security.
On Wednesday, Godara met with Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma to express gratitude for this initiative. He emphasized that the campaign has enabled the government to extend food security to families previously excluded from the program.
He explained that based on population criteria, there is a set limit for beneficiaries under the NFSA in Rajasthan, approximately 44.6 million. Since the quota was already filled, many eligible families could not avail themselves of these benefits.
To address this issue, the state government launched the “Give Up” campaign on November 1, 2024, encouraging financially capable beneficiaries to voluntarily forfeit their food security benefits.
About three months later, on January 26, 2025, the NFSA portal was reopened, allowing eligible families to apply for inclusion in the program. According to the minister, after the portal’s reopening, 8.76 million beneficiaries were added, while 1.295 million had already been included during the current government’s term, bringing the total number of new beneficiaries to 10,056,511.
Godara described this expansion as one of the state’s largest social security initiatives, made possible by the voluntary participation of 9.348 million beneficiaries who relinquished their ration benefits.
He noted that the newly included beneficiaries are entitled to receive 5 kilograms of wheat per person under the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. They will also qualify for various state welfare schemes, including the Chief Minister’s LPG Subsidy Scheme, Chief Minister’s Ayushman Accident Insurance Scheme, and Chief Minister’s Ayushman Arogya Scheme.
The minister stated that this initiative reflects the state government’s commitment to ensuring that no eligible family is deprived of food security and other welfare benefits.
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