Bhubaneswar. On the occasion of Odisha Day, the Odisha government has extended the distribution of free rice for another 6 months to the beneficiaries covered under its State Food Security Scheme (SFSS). Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in a statement on Friday said that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the officials concerned to make free distribution of additional 5 kg rice per month to SFSS beneficiaries from April 2022.
Earlier, the benefit of 5 kg free rice was given to the beneficiaries of SFSS from December 2021 to March 2022.
This step will benefit about 8.09 lakh beneficiaries covered under the scheme.
For this purpose the state government will distribute 24,270 tonnes of rice from the state pool with an expenditure of Rs 91.70 crore from its own funds.
The CMO said that this would facilitate the beneficiaries enrolled in SFSS to be at par with the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Notably, the central government has recently extended the free food grains distribution scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for six more months from March 2022.
Under PMGKAY, beneficiaries of the Center (NFSA) are given an additional five kg of rice or wheat per month free of cost over and above their normal monthly quota.
—AnyTV News
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