Use of new ration cards in Odisha from Sept 1 next year

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 18:

The new ration cards would be implemented in Odisha with effect from September 1 next year.

The Food Supply and Consumer Welfare department would distribute the ration cards among the consumers at Rs 10 per each card from July 25 to August 15 through gram sabhas and other special programmes, said secretary of the department Madhusudan Padhi.

Stating that the department has informed about this to all district collectors, he said the collectors have been directed to ensure timely distribution of ration cards as per the Central guidelines on Food Security Act.

Padhi also said that the collectors have been informed about the change in the earlier decision of the state government on the three-phase identification of beneficiaries.

“As per the revised decision, distribution of ration cards would begin in the state after the process of identification of beneficiaries in Bhubaneswar block and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is completed”, he informed.

Talking about the decision taken by his department, Padhi said since implementation of the Food Security Act depends on identification of beneficiaries and preparation of new ration cards, Padhi said 30 districts have been divided into 10 units. Each unit will have three districts with average population of 41 lakh.

Selection of beneficiaries would begin from January next year, he added.

“The state government would receive applications from eligible families for which registration centres would be opened at the panchayat and ward levels while the applications would be verified by Gram Rojgar Sevaks, Supply assistants as well as teachers who have retired four years ago. The collectors have been asked to complete this process by December 25,” Padhi said.

He said as decided by the state government, the list of beneficiaries would be published between March 10 and May 15 in all districts while the verification would be held between March 16 and May 31.

“The beneficiary list would be verified at the gram sabha and ward sabha by June 5 while the final list of beneficiaries and their Aadhaar card numbers would be uploaded in the department’s website by June-end”, Padhi said.