95% ration card holders given food, claims administration

The Gautam Budh Nagar administration said it provided ration to almost 95% ration card holders in the first 11 days of May and that over 11,500 new cards were issued

The Gautam Budh Nagar administration said it provided ration to almost 95% ration card holders in the first 11 days of May and that over 11,500 new cards were issued ever since the beginning of the lockdown on March 25.

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The prime minister had announced a nation-wide lockdown on March 24 which is now in its second extension scheduled to end on May 17. The situation had left thousands of people without means to feed themselves or their families. The district administration in April had formed 169 teams to identify and issue ration cards to all who requires it.

“With the efforts of those teams working on the ground, almost 11,500 new cards have been issued ever since the lockdown started. We currently have 1,85,799 cards of whom 94.76% people were issued ration in May so far,” said the district supplies officer, Raj Narayan Yadav.

The figure is slightly higher than in April when 91.38% card holders were provided with ration out of 1,80,657 active cards. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna for May, Gautam Budh Nagar is leading in the state with more than 68% distribution completed.

In Gautam Budh Nagar district, these services are available at 134 distribution centers in the city and 244 in the rural belts.

For those people who don’t have families, ration cards can be issued if they are from the same state and for migrants living alone, they can still get ration with their Aadhaar cards through the public distribution system, said officials. Further more, they are also entitled to relief from the chief minister’s rahat kosh and the administration is distributing those kits containing nine items including rice, pulses, atta, etc while the three authorities are also distributing cooked food in the district.

Officials also said that surprise inspections are being carried out all over the district and three vendors have been booked under the Essential services act for various violations.

However, despite all efforts that the administration has claimed to carry out, some people are still dependent on generosity of individuals for basic needs.

“In the starting of the month, someone gave me Rs 500 with which I bought many things. But then we started running out and are almost begging now for anyone to help us out. Sometimes the Authority vehicle comes with khichdi, but they give a very small portion and it is not even close to helping my family of seven- husband and five children. Random people have been helping us out with ration,” said Sithadevi, a domestic help from Hoshiyarpur village.

Her family received an uncooked food package from volunteers of an NGO and the family hopes that it will sustain them for the week.