By Sudarsan maharana
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 4: The process of identification of PDS beneficiaries will be delayed by eight days as the cooperative election is slated to be held January 18 and 25.
The state government had earlier decided to initiate the identification process January 20. However, food supplies minister Sanjay Das Burma said the process will be initiated January 28.
“As the cooperative election is scheduled to conclude January 25, we will initiate the identification process January 28,” said the food supplies secretary Madhusudhan Padhee. The government holidays are also a reason for changing the date, he said.
The identification process, which is scheduled to be completed by August 15, will begin at the panchayat level under all blocks and at the ward level in urban areas.
Each block and urban area would be split into four divisions and applications would be invited from all deserving families.
The food supplies minister has asked the officials concerned to complete the identification work within the stipulated period. The state government had last month decided to merge the second and third phase implementation of NFSA into one.
In the first phase, NFSA would be implemented in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar block under Khurda district on a pilot basis from February 2015.
The digitization for new ration cards to enlist beneficiaries of NFSA in BMC and Bhubaneswar block area has already been completed. Beneficiaries of this phase are likely to get their cards from February.