New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has urged the government to complete a population census at the earliest. She claimed that around 14 crore people in the country are being deprived of the benefits under the food security law. Beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are being identified as per the 2011 Census, and not the latest population numbers, she said In her maiden Zero Hour intervention in the Rajya Sabha.
The senior Congress leader called the NFSA introduced by the UPA government in September 2013 a landmark initiative aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security for the country’s 140 crore population. The legislation, Gandhi said, played a crucial role in protecting millions of vulnerable households from starvation, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis.
She also said that the quota for the beneficiaries is still determined based on the 2011 Census, which is now well over a decade old. “It is imperative that the government prioritises completion of the census as soon as possible and ensures that all deserving individuals receive the benefits guaranteed to them under the NFSA. Food security is not a privilege. It is a fundamental right,” the former Congress chief said.
