Telangana to distribute three-month ration in April
HYDERABAD:Â Â The Centre and Telangana government have decided to distribute a three-month foodgrain quota in April to beneficiaries of food security (ration) cards, in view of rising temperatures flagged by the weather department.
The civil supplies department has released the quota for Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts under the Greater Hyderabad region. Supply of Public Distribution System (PDS) rice to fair price shops began on Sunday.
Three-month quota to be issued in one phase
Authorities will distribute the quota for April, May and June together. The move aims to provide relief to poor families during the summer.
Across the three districts, there are about 21,46,995 food security cards covering 76,91,452 units. Under the three-month allocation, around 14,27,621.31 quintals of PDS rice have been released.
Beneficiaries to receive 18 kg per unit
Under Public Distribution System norms, each unit is entitled to 6 kg of rice per month. With three months’ quota issued at once, each unit will receive 18 kg.
A four-member family will get 72 kg, while a five-member family will receive 90 kg. Antyodaya cardholders will receive 105 kg for three months, calculated at 35 kg per month.
Beneficiaries can collect rice from any fair price shop using the portability facility.
E-POS machines updated for single authentication
With distribution being done in one phase, technical changes are being made to electronic point-of-sale (e-POS) biometric machines.
Instead of authenticating fingerprints three times for three months, beneficiaries will now complete the process in a single authentication following a software update.
