The Odisha Government has extended the distribution of additional Rs 5-a-kg rice free of cost under the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) for another six months.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made an announcement to this effect on the special occasion of Utkal Divas on Friday.
Now, each beneficiary of the food security scheme would get an additional 5-kg rice from the month of April 2022 to September 2022. As many as 8.09 lakh people under the scheme would be benefited, a release from CMO stated.
To meet this, total 24,270 tonnes of rice will be supplied at an expenditure of Rs 91.70 crore from the State exchequer.
This will facilitate beneficiaries enrolled in the State Food Security Scheme to remain at par with beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act.
The benefit of 5-kg free rice had earlier been extended for the beneficiaries of SFSS from December 2021 to March 2022.