VIJAYAWADA: In a first of its kind in AP state, YSR Congress government is starting on Thursday door delivery of rations made available under the Public Distribution System. Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will formally launch 2,500 door delivery vehicles in Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari districts at a function being held at the iconic Benz Circle in Vijayawada on the day.
The scheme will benefit 26,39,363 cardholders throughout the state.
Door delivery of rations is part of Jagan’s promise during his 3,648-km-long padayatra as then opposition leader, when he witnessed the plight of elderly and differently-abled people who had to wait in long queues to get their supplies.
The Chief Minister also promised that quality rice will be delivered to cardholders, thereby removing irregularities within the PDS system.
The door-delivery system will cost the state government an additional Rs. 830 crore per annum.
Civil supplies minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao alias Nani said under the Chandrababu Naidu regime, percentage of husk and coloured grains was high in ration supplied to cardholders. But now, they are supplying Swarna variety of rice with zero percent stones and less than one percent of coloured or damaged grains.
Nani said quality rice will be distributed in reusable bags at doorsteps by taking the cardholders’ fingerprints. Every bag of rice will be sealed and tagged with a unique code, giving zero scope for adulteration. All mobile vehicles will have a GPS system fitted to track PDS deliveries in real-time. Each vehicle will deliver goods for an average of 18 days per month.
For purpose of door delivery, the state government has distributed 9,260 subsidised vehicles to eligible unemployed youth, incurring a cost of Rs. 539 crore.
The quantum of subsidy is as much as 60 percent subsidy under the Employment Guarantee Scheme of various corporations. The value of each vehicle is Rs 5.81 lakh of which Rs. 3.48 lakh is government subsidy.
ST corporation has subsidised approximately 700 vehicles, SC corporation 2,300, BC corporation 3,800, Minorities corporation 660, and EWEB corporation 1,800 vehicles.
Jagan Mohan Reddy government has also started offering ration cards to all eligible people across the state in just 10 days from the date of filing their applications under five categories – issuing of new ration card, division of a ration card, adding members to a rice card, removing members from a rice card and surrendering the rice card. In the process, 4,93,422 new ration cards have been issued from June 2020 till date.
