National Consultation with State Food Commissions

We are in the tenth year of implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 and in the 76^th year of Indian Independence. But we are still tackled with issues like hunger and malnutrition. The country has secured 107^th position of 121 countries and falls in the serious category as per the Global Hunger Index released on 13^th October 2022. What needs to be done to tackle hunger and malnutrition? It is clear that having a legislation and schemes in place is not sufficient. There needs to be a robust implementation and monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that the intent of the law is achieved.

State Food Commissions play a critical role in this direction. They have the authority of a civil court and have powers to monitor the implementation of the Act. CCL NLSIU organized a National Consultation by bringing together State Food Commissions from 8 states to interact, share their experiences, voice the challenges they face and discuss on the possible solutions to address the same. The consultation also put forth recommendations by CCL NLSIU on law, rules and policies.

The study report by CCL titled “Food Insecurities and State Response: NFSA Progress Report” which analyzes the status of implementation of National Food Security Act, 2013 in 12 states was released during the consultation.