Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 24: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday directed the food supplies and consumer welfare department to continue the supply of Re 1-per-kilo rice to poor families left out from BPL list till November 30.
As many as 6,23,426 poor families, who were deprived of below poverty line (BPL) cards in 1997 and identified as poor left outs (PLO), had been provided with rice at the rate of Re 1 per kg in the state since 2008, officials said.
Over six lakh PLO families in 19 districts have now been included in the list of beneficiaries for National Food Security Act (NFSA), which will be implemented in two phases from November 1, said the officals. In the first phases it will be implemented in 14 districts and in the second phase it will be implemented in the remaining 16 districts from December 1.
Since there is possibility of PLO families being denied cheap rice before NFSA comes into force in their districts, Patnaik gave this direction, an official said.
The state government has to bear an additional expenditure of `53 crore for providing cheap rice to over six lakh PLO families, he said.
Food supply and consumer welfare department officials said since the beneficiaries of PLO category have been included under NFSA, provision of subsidised rice under PLO scheme will be lifted soon.
A total of 3.26 crore people of the state’s total population of 4.11 crore have been identified as the beneficiaries under NFSA.
