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A meeting of State Food Secretaries to be held here on Friday will discuss various measures for strengthening the Public Distribution System. Convened by the Ministry of Food this meeting will consider issues like identification of beneficiaries of Public Distribution System, ensuring viability of fair price shops and monitoring mechanism for effective running of rationing system.
Strengthening of the Public Distribution System is included in the Common Minimum Programme of the Government, particularly in the poorest and backward blocks of the country. This goal will be achieved by expanding the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, (AAY) a Scheme for providing highly subsidized foodgrains to the poorest of the poor in the country. Under AAY a total of 6.52 crore BPL (below poverty line) households will be supplied foodgrains at Rs. 2 per kg. for wheat and Rs. 3 per kg. for rice and the scale of issue has been raised to 35 kg. per month. State Governments are to identify the families to be included under the scheme and issue distinctive ration cards. With the expansion of AAY the number of beneficiaries will increase to 2 crore families which constitutes about 30.66 per cent of the total estimated number of BPL families in the country.
The meeting will be inaugurated by Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
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