E-Paper
1.5 lakh more families to get ration under NFSA in Himachal
The income limit of such families would be ₹45,000 per annum
An additional 1.5 lakh families will be covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by identifying ‘priority household’, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday.
The income limit of such families would be ₹45,000 per annum and they will be provided subsidised ration under the scheme.
He said that 6,78,338 families in the state are covered under the Act with a total population of 27,84,717 whereas the target for the state under the Act is to 36, 81,586 people.
As per the provisions of the Act, the families falling under its ambit will get wheat at ₹3.30 and rice at ₹2 per kilogram.
The state would grant an extra ₹10 crore per year to implement the scheme.
He said that consumers may also purchase any three pulses among Urad, dal chana, malka and moong at subsidised rates every month.
“In order to provide essential food items at a fair price to the people, the government has allocated ₹ 225 crore under the state subsidy scheme for the current financial year,” he said.
The chief minister said that the poor were the worst affected due to Covid-19 lockdown and the government has decided to provide them ration through fair price shops.
On recommendations of the Cabinet sub-committee constituted for ‘Post Covid-19’ economic revival, the CM said, his government decided to exclude about 1.50 lakh taxpayers of the state from the benefits of the Public Distribution Scheme for a period of one year.
“The government may consider including them in the scheme after one year when the economy comes back on track,” he said.
He added that the government has also reduced the subsidy being provided to the above poverty line (APL) families on pulses from ₹30 to ₹20 per kg.
The subsidy on edible oil has been cut to ₹5 per litre against the earlier ₹10 and that on the sugar by ₹6.
“These steps will enable the government to provide maximum support to the weaker sections of the society,” said Thakur.
“These initiatives will also save ₹ 60-70 crore of the public money which could further be used to tackle the Covid pandemic,” he said.
