Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government has been supplying free ration to almost 73 lakh citizens in the national capital since April 2020 in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
Kejriwal said, “His government has been providing free ration to the people in the national capital for the last couple of years at a nominal rate from ration shops. However, since April 2020, we've been giving the ration for free."
"Now, the Delhi government has decided to extend this scheme till September 30 and will continue supplying free ration in the coming months too," Kejriwal said.
In December 2021, the Kejriwal government had extended the free ration scheme till May 31, 2022.
Later, in a release, the Delhi government said it has also decided to extend the free ration scheme for NFSA beneficiaries for another four months from June to September 2022.
The release further added that the Delhi chief minister took the cognizance of the inflation as a result of the pandemic and supported the merits of the proposal put by the Food and Civil Supplies department to extend the scheme for NFSA beneficiaries.
The Delhi government distributes free ration to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. The city has over 2,000 fair price shops, 17.77 lakh ration card holders and around 72.78 lakh beneficiaries.
NFSA beneficiaries include needy people like migrant workers, unorganised workers, construction workers, domestic helpers and those who do not have ration cards.
Under the free ration scheme, 5 kg of food grains are provided free of cost to the needy living in the national capital according to the eligibility prescribed under the NFS Act 2013. This includes four kg of wheat and one kg of rice per person per month.
