Govt will continue providing free ration to nearly 73 lakh residents

New Delhi: The Delhi government has extended its free ration scheme till September 30, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday. The proposal was approved unanimously during a meeting of the Delhi Cabinet chaired by the CM held on Wednesday.

The Delhi government has been supplying ration for free to almost 73 lakh citizens since April 2020. Backbreaking inflation and loss of livelihood in the pandemic forms the basis of this extension, as per Kejriwal.

During the meeting, the Food and Civil Supplies department proposed the extension of the supply of free ration for NFSA beneficiaries for another four months from June to September 2022.

Kejriwal took cognisance of the backbreaking inflation as a result of the pandemic supported the merits of the proposal saying that it was pertinent to extend the scheme to give much needed relief to the masses.

Kejriwal said, "The Delhi government has been providing free ration to the people for the last couple of years. The government offers ration at a nominal rate from ration shops however for the last few years, we've been giving that for free too. We have extended this scheme till September 30 and will continue supplying free ration for the coming months too."

Notably, NFSA beneficiaries include unorganised workers, construction workers, domestic helpers and those who do not have ration cards. Under the Delhi government's free ration scheme, 5 kg of food grains are provided free of cost to the needy as per the eligibility prescribed under the NFS Act 2013. This includes 4 kg of wheat and 1 kg of rice per person per month.

Delhi has 72,77,995 Beneficiaries under National Food Security Act, 2013 under Targeted PDS. Due to the spread of COVID-19 and preventive measures of lockdowns, there was consequent loss of livelihood of citizens. To ameliorate this, Delhi government has been distributing NFSA ration to all PDS beneficiaries free of cost since April 2020.