Imran Hussain chairs meeting on free ration distribution in Delhi

Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the distribution of free rations under the National Food Security Act NFSA and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana PMGKAY in the city.Directing officers to take strict action against fair price shop FPS dealers who refuse to distribute complete rations to beneficiaries, the minister said no one should be deprived.Hussain informed that the decision to provide free rations was taken by the Arvind Kejriwal government in larger public interest during the COVID-19 pandemic.This decision benefits around 17,78,632 households, covering 72,77,995 beneficiaries, he said.

Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the distribution of free rations under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in the city.

Directing officers to take strict action against fair price shop (FPS) dealers who refuse to distribute complete rations to beneficiaries, the minister said no one should be deprived.

Hussain informed that the decision to provide free rations was taken by the Arvind Kejriwal government in larger public interest during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision benefits around 17,78,632 households, covering 72,77,995 beneficiaries, he said. This also includes 68,732 Antodya Anna Yojna (AAY) households having 2,81,006 beneficiaries.

''During the meeting, the commissioner of Food and Civil Supplies informed that under the NFSA and the PMGKAY, nearly 87 per cent of rations is distributed so far,'' an officials statement said.

Hussain also added that ration distribution under the 'One Nation One Ration Card' scheme is now also being implemented through all e-PoS-enabled FPS in Delhi.

''Delhi is among one of the topmost states in ration distribution to migrants under ONORC. This facility is being allowed to all migrant beneficiaries under national portability, who have been identified under NFSA in their parent state,'' the minister said in a statement.

Hussain also said that the Delhi government has notified the movement of food grains for public distribution system from other states to the capital and from godowns to fair price shops within the city as an essential service.

He directed the officials to ensure timely delivery of food grains from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns to FPS in a smooth and uninterrupted manner, the statement said.