Lucknow/Kannauj
Ration card holders in Uttar Pradesh are in for some cheer as for the first time, along with wheat and rice, they will receive a litre of refined oil, and a kilo each of salt and chana, free. The free salt, oil and chana come in a pack with the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on it.
In the first phase of ration distribution in December, 79,527 ration shops across the state will receive the packs ready to be distributed to nearly 36 million ration card holders. Of these about 32 million hold the Patra Grihasti card and about four million hold the Antyodaya card.
As per the National Food Security Act 2013, each person on the Patra Grihasti ration card is entitled to five kilos of ration, which includes two kilos of rice and three kilos of wheat at subsidised rates. This is drawn twice a month. The Antyodaya card holders are entitled to the same and have an additional 35 kilos of wheat and rice that they can draw once a month on each card.
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According to the district supply officer, Kannauj, KK Gupta, in addition to the regular ration that the Patra Grihasti and the Antyodaya card holders draw on payment, they are also drawing five kilos per person in the ration card, absolutely free. This, under the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana scheme, that began in March 2020.
The free scheme has now been extended till March 2022.
In Kannauj district, according to Gupta, 312, 634 ration card holders will benefit from this including 29, 012 Antyodaya card holders.
“It was at a video conference on November 30, between the agricultural production commissioner and the food commissioner, it was announced that along with the rations, each ration card would be entitled to one litre of refined oil, a kilo each of salt and chana,” KK Gupta told Gaon Connection.
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The new freebies are from the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India. The chana is from Kanpur while the refined oil has been sourced from Bharatpur in Rajasthan. “Thirty three per cent of the consignment of refined oil and sixteen per cent of the chana have already been received in the district,” Gupta said.
The new pre-packaged rations will save time for the ration shop owner and minimise chances of adulteration and tampering with the weights.
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The packages will be distributed around mid December, the dates are yet to be finalised. Nodal officers have been positioned at ration shops and the authorities will be on alert across blocks, tehsil and the district level to ensure a smooth distribution. In Kannauj alone there are 585 fair price ration shops in rural areas and 68 of them in the towns.
Read the story in Hindi.
