Chhattisgarh to sell salt at Rs 10 per kg under PDS scheme

RAIPUR: The state has decided to sell salt at Rs 10 per kilogram under Public Distribution system for both APL and BPL families, which constitutes 2.47 crore people in Chhattisgarh. The decision was taken to prevent panic buying amid rumors of shortage of salt in the state.
The state government claimed that during the lockdown from March to May nearly 25,232 new beneficiaries registered under APL category, who purchased rice at incremental rate from government shop.Nearly nine lakh people are registered under APL in PDS since the scheme for APL from October 2019, said government officials.
Food and civil supplies secretary, Kamalpreet Singh said that in last few months around 14 lakh metric tonnes of rice has been distributed under PDS, of which the Central government’s share is about 50 percent.
There was an increase in registration of APL and blow poverty line (BPL) families since large numbers of migrant workers returned to Chhattisgarh from other states between March to May. During this period a rise has been seen in purchase of ration under PDS by APL families due to good quality of rice available here, Singh claimed.
Singh added that Chhattisgarh has a universal PDS and everyone is entitled to benefit from the system. In October 2019, the state government decided to provide rice at subsidised prices to APL families in the state.
Singh said that the state government has categorised families according to the rate at which rations are provided since everyone in Chhattisgarh benefits from PDS.
Chhattisgarh has National Food Security Act and two other schemes – Antyodaya Scheme and a scheme for disabled people- under which beneficiaries get rations for Rs 1 per kg.
To avail APL scheme people can register themselves and can get rations at Rs 10 per kg.
The official data shows that in January, the total number of APL cards was 8,38,719 and rations were distributed to 6,13,405 families. In February, the number of APL cards increased to 8,62,197 and rations were provided to 6,55,936 families.
In March, the number of APL cards increased to 8,69,405 and rations were distributed to 6,61,334 families. In April, the number of registered users were 8,81,028, and rations were provided to 7,44,848 families, and the number of cards in May was 8,94,637 and rations were given to 6,88,496 people.
The figures show the number of APL cards has been increasing every month and more APL families are buying ration from these government shops under PDS.