HYDERABAD: The much-awaited distribution of new ration cards will begin from Monday with civil supplies minister Gangula Kamalakar formally giving the food security cards to beneficiaries in Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district.
Over three lakh families will now get the cards on Monday following scrutiny of documents and field verification by civil supplies and revenue department officials.
With this, the total number of ration cards would go up to 90.5 lakh in Telangana. The total number of beneficiaries would rise to 2.88 crore following addition of 8.65 lakh more members. The new cards will be issued between July 26 and July 31.
All these new beneficiaries can avail subsidised rice in fair price (FP) shops from August 1. Every member enrolled on the ration card is eligible for 6 kg of rice at a subsidised price of Re 1 per kg.
The state government will have to spend an additional Rs 200 crore per annum to supply nearly 6,000 metric tonnes of rice to the 8.65 lakh new beneficiaries. The total expenditure of the state government on subsidised rice would go up to nearly Rs 2,800 crore per annum.
“This just another step towards achieving the objective set by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao that no one should go hungry in the new state of Telangana. The TRS government will ensure that every eligible family gets the food security card and rice through fair price shops,” minister Gangula Kamalakar said.
The ministers, MLCs, MLAs and other elected representatives from the ruling TRS will participate in the distribution of the food security cards in villages, mandals, districts, towns and cities in the state. The highest number of ration cards will be issued in Hyderabad followed by Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. The government is also planning to print new ration cards with better design and beneficiaryfriendly features soon.
