The National Advisory Council, NAC has recommended food security coverfor nearly 80 crore people in the country through Public DistributionSystem. It has suggested the implementation of the first phase of theproposed food security legislation from the beginning of next financial year and covering the entire country by 2014.The NAC headed by Sonia Gandhi has suggested two broad categories foreligibility for legal entitlement of food grains under the proposed food security legislation. It says that under the priority category,35kilograms of food grains should be provided every month at the subsidised rate of two rupees a kilogram for wheat, three rupees a kg for rice and one rupee kg for millets. The recommendation for the general category households is for a legal monthly entitlement of 20 kilograms of foodgrains at a price not exceeding 50 per cent of the minimum support price. The recommendations were finalised at the sixth meeting of the Council held in New Delhi yesterday.Later, a member of the NAC Narendra Jadva said the first phase of theimplementation may cost an additional expenditure of more than 15 thousand crore rupees in food subsidies. The Council has also suggested universalising primary healthcare,extending nutrition and health support to adolescent girls,strengthening the school health programme, the programme for Vitamin A, iodine and iron supplementation and the national programme forcreches.