In first cabinet meeting of second term, Yogi extends UP’s free rationing scheme by 3 months – The New Indian Express

Express Message Service

LUCKNOW: Yogi Adityanath’s government has decided to continue the program of free rationing of 15 crore residents of the state for the next three months. A formal decision in this regard was made at the first Yogi Cabinet 2.0 meeting in Lok Bhavan on Saturday.

“The first decision of the newly formed government in Uttar Pradesh is dedicated to 15 million poor people,” said CM Adityanath when making the announcement after the meeting.

The CM, who himself briefed the media after his cabinet’s first meeting, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Anna Yojana” during the pandemic to support every citizen. From April 2020 to March 2022, approximately 80 million people in the country benefited from the program. At the same time, the state government distributed a free ration in addition to supporting the central government, he said.

The system of free ration distribution was well received during the recently concluded local elections. Gaining people’s support greatly benefited the BJP as those living below the poverty line had been given a free ration twice a month for two years during the pandemic.

Apart from the central government, the state government provided 15 crore free rations to poor people from its own funds. Under the scheme, 35 kg of food grains were issued by the state government to Antyodaya cardholders, while the eligible households received five kg of food grains per unit. The state government also provided families of the Antyodaya category with cereals as well as one liter of refined oil, one kg of legumes, one kg of salt and one kg of sugar since December 2021.

The premier said the free ration system has been very useful in addressing the problem of hunger resulting from loss of livelihood during the pandemic. “Given that the period of this program ended in March 2022, it was decided at the first cabinet meeting of the new government to extend it for the next three months until June 22,” the CM said.

He emphasized the transparent system of ration distribution, saying that e-POS machines have been installed in 80,000 fair-priced stores in the state, which can enable free and fair distribution of the ration to the right beneficiary.