Punjab govt to start doorstep delivery of ration – here’s how to avail it

The newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has decided to start doorstep delivery of ration in the state, confirmed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday.

According to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, the scheme would be optional and will be provided only upon request.

Interested residents will need to contact the concerned department and the government officials will call them back to ask the timings of the delivery.

After confirmation, the ration will be delivered at the scheduled time.

Mann further confirmed that the government has decided to make people’s lives easier as that is what governments were supposed to do. He said the scheme would be rolled out soon after working out the modalities.

During a media briefing, AAP’s national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “Today, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has announced doorstep delivery of ration… it’ll be implemented soon. We’ve been struggling to implement it in Delhi for the last 4 years; we planned out everything but the Centre’s BJP govt stopped it.”

“There’s a saying, ‘you can’t stop the idea whose time has come;’ they (Centre) didn’t allow us to implement it in Delhi, no problem, we’ll do it in Punjab & country will demand it. It’ll get implemented in the country, like mohalla clinics,” he added.

It should be noted that it’s a similar scheme that the AAP tried to implement in Delhi, however, it got stalled after intervention from the Central government.

Under the Delhi government’s doorstep delivery scheme, the Kejriwal government had promised home delivery of 100 essential public services, including caste and marriage certificates, driving licence, and new water connections, and set up a special helpline number for the purpose.

Last week, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath extended the free ration scheme in the state by three months till June 30, 2022.

This is the first decision taken by him after becoming the Chief Minister of the state for the second time.

Notably, the Union Cabinet on Saturday extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme for another six months till September 2022 – with each beneficiary eligible to get an additional 5 kilogram free ration per month in addition to the normal quota of foodgrains under the NFSA.

The Phase-V of PM-GKAY was to end in March. The scheme has been under implementation since April 2020 as the largest food security programme in the world. The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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