Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: After depriving ration card provision for families belonging to above poverty lines (APL) category since two decades, Odisha government on Friday said it was contemplating revival of the facility soon, official sources said.
"We are planning to re-introduce ration card provision for the APL category too. This could be done only after getting required data from National Population Register (NPR)," Odisha's Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare minister P K Deb told reporters.

The centre had meanwhile, informed that they were ready to share NPR data with the state government, the minister said adding that the data would reveal the actual number of families under APL category.

Stating that no ration card was issued for the APL families after 1992, the minister said that they should also get new cards. During a span of two decades, the number of APL families have increased in the state and they were denied the benefits of ration cards, he said.

While families living under the below povery line (BPL) are entitled to get subsidised rice and other items distributed under public distribution system (PDS), the APL families get wheat and kerosene.

The minister, however, said the department of food supplies and consumer welfare has sought permission from the state government for signing a MoU with Register General of India before re-introducing ration card for APL families.

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