Mon Feb 10 07:12:55 UTC 2025: **Congress Leader Demands Speedy Population Census, Citing Food Security Concerns**
New Delhi, February 10, 2025 – Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi urged the government today to expedite the long-delayed population census, arguing that millions of Indians are being denied benefits under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) due to the outdated 2011 census data.
In her maiden Zero Hour speech in the Rajya Sabha, Gandhi highlighted that the NFSA, enacted in 2013, uses data from a decade ago to determine beneficiaries. This, she claimed, is resulting in approximately 140 million people being excluded from receiving subsidized food grains. The current system, based on the 2011 census, covers around 813.5 million people, while the actual eligible population is significantly higher.
Gandhi emphasized the importance of the NFSA, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, and criticized the government’s allocation of budget funds, suggesting that a census this year is unlikely. The decennial census, originally scheduled for 2021, is now over four years behind schedule.
The Congress leader stressed that food security is a fundamental right, not a privilege, and called on the government to prioritize completing the census to ensure that all eligible citizens receive the benefits they are entitled to under the NFSA. The government currently provides 5 kg of free food grains per person per month under the scheme. The PMGKAY scheme, providing free food grains, has been extended for five more years but does not address the core issue of the outdated census data.
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