Himachal Pradesh will convene a special meeting of Gram Sabhas December 1 to identify and include beneficiaries left out of the foodgrain scheme, an official said Sunday.
Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to ensure gram sabha meetings are convened in all the 3,243 panchayats so the eligible families are included in the Rajiv Gandhi Ann Yojana, a Government spokesman told IANS. He said over 37 lakh consumers are being provided five kilo of food grain per person per month at subsidised rates under the Targeted Public Distribution System. Each eligible person is being given 3 kilo wheat at `2 per kilo and two kilo rice at `3 per kilo.
He said 196,654 Antyodaya ration card holders are entitled to get 20 kilo wheat at `2 per kilo and 15 kilo of rice at `3 per kilo per family. The spokesperson said 2,728 beneficiaries under the Annapurna scheme would get 10 kilo of additional rice free of cost. The foodgrain scheme also envisions women empowerment. The government has decided in principle to issue ration card of the beneficiary family in the name of senior-most adult female member of the family. If an eligible family has no adult female member, the card will be issued in the name of the family’s male head and transferred in the name of female member when she turns 18 years.
Under the scheme, every eligible pregnant women and lactating mother is entitled to rich protein meal, free of cost during pregnancy and six months after childbirth through the local anganwadi centres. The state has its own food subsidy scheme under which three pulses, edible oil and salt is provided at subsidised rates to 1,699,255 ration card holders. The Government has recently decided to increase the outlay for the scheme from `175 crore to `237 crore.