A total of 3,23,23,108 people belonging to 86,14,222 families are now provided Re 1-a-kg rice or wheat against a target for 3,26,41,800 people set under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in Odisha.
A total of 15,45,907 quintal of subsidised rice and 2,47,800 quintal of subsidised wheat are being supplied to them each month.
Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma informed this in the State Assembly in response to a question of BJP MlA Dilip Ray. He said ration cards have been issued to 86,14,222 beneficiary families and cancelled 1,22,292 fake cards so far.
Notably, the State had more than 96 lakh households comprising a population of around 4.20 crore as per the 2011 Cesus.
The Minister informed that Centre is providing rice at a subsidised rate of Rs 3 per kg and wheat at Rs 2 per kg and bearing subsidy of Rs 27.94 per a kg of rice and Rs 20 per a kg of wheat.
Odisha has received a total of 460,414.179 MT of rice and 76,477.416 MT from the Centre for the last three months, the Minister informed. Dasburma further informed that a total of 6,786 cases had been registered against fake beneficiaries, who had grabbed ration cards supplying wrong information, and 353 persons arrested on the charge. Many cases have also been withdrawn.
While Rs 42,13,67,268 had been collected from the ineligible beneficiaries, Rs 22,56,19,486 has been refunded, the Minister added.