In the first decision of his 2.0 Government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced to continue the scheme of providing free ration to 15 crore poor people of the state for the next three months.
Free ration was claimed to be the game changer for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the UP assembly polls as the beneficiaries whom the party called Rs labharthi’ helped it win the 2022 elections with a resounding victory.
A formal decision in this regard was taken in the first meeting of the Yogi cabinet 2.0 held at Lok Bhavan on Saturday.
“The first decision of the newly-formed government in Uttar Pradesh is dedicated to 15 crore poor people," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said while making this announcement.
The scheme was slated to end this month and has been extended for next three months. This is the third extension of this scheme.
As per the scheme, the Antyodaya card holders will get 35 kilograms of free food grains along with 1 kg dal, 1 litre refined oil, 1 kg iodised salt and 1 kg sugar per month. The other ration card holders will get 5 kgs free food grains per unit along with 1 kg dal, 1 litre refined oil and 1 kg iodised salt.
The state government will spend around Rs 3,270 crore on this scheme.
Yogi said that during the novel coronavirus pandemic period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started the Anna Yojana with the aim of providing support to every citizen.
From April 2020 till March 2022, about 80 crore people of the country were getting direct benefit of the scheme. At the same time, the state government had implemented the free ration distribution scheme in addition to the scheme of the Central government.
Yogi said the free ration scheme had been very useful in addressing the problem of starvation arising out of the pandemic even as the novel coronavirus was controlled with the efforts of free tests, treatment and vaccines.
Under the scheme, Antyodaya and eligible household card holders comprising 15 crore people of the state were getting a double dose of free ration under the double-engine government of the BJP.
"Considering that the period of this scheme was ending in March 2022, in the first cabinet meeting of the new government, it has been decided to extend it for the next three months till June 22," the chief minister said.
Emphasising on transparent ration distribution system, the chief minister said that e-POS machines had been installed at 80,000 fair price shops in the state due to which distribution of ration to the right beneficiary was possible.
It may be recalled that from April 2020, apart from the Central government, the state government was providing free ration to 15 crore poor people from its own resources. Under the scheme, 35 kg of food grains was being given to Antyodaya card holders by the state government, while the eligible households were getting five kg of food grains per unit. Apart from this, from December 2021 onwards, the state government also provided food grains as well as one litre refined oil, one kg pulse and one kg salt while one kg sugar was also being provided to Antyodaya category families.