The Odisha government will provide 5kg rice free of cost to State Food Security Scheme beneficiaries for one year from January 23 to Dec 23 under the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS).
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made the announcement on Tuesday.
Under this scheme, beneficiaries will receive 5 kg of rice free every month till December 2023.
The scheme will cost the government exchequer an additional Rs 185 crore.
The State Government has been distributing 5 kg of rice per person per month to the left-out eligible beneficiaries covered under the State scheme called ‘State Food Security Scheme at Rs 1 per kg since October 2018. Now it will be free of cost.
These beneficiaries have also been provided with additional rice and pulses during the last 28 months of prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation in the State.
Earlier in October 2022, the Odisha government had asked officials to extend the distribution of 1Rupee-rice among 9.05 lakh people under its State Food Security Scheme for three more months.
The state government had launched the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) in 2018 for poor people who were left out of the national food security programme.
The Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana during the COVID-19 pandemic to distribute free rations. As many as 3.26 crore people from Odisha are covered under the National Food Security Act.