72.48 lakh Delhiites covered under National Food Security Act: Eco survey

The Delhi government has covered 72.48 lakh beneficiaries under the National Food Security (NFS) Act, with 19.40 lakh NFS smart cards being issued to eligible families under the initiative till March 31, 2017.

According to the Economic Survey (2017-18) released today, the AAP government facilitated supply of food grains to around 72.48 lakh poor people through a network of 2,254 fair price shops at subsidised rates.

"So far, 19.40 lakh NFS smart cards have been issued to eligible families of the national capital as on 31st March, 2017," it said.

The survey said food grains were distributed to around 15.15 lakh card holders through e-Point of Sale (POS) devices.

To help the beneficiaries, the government had introduced 'Ration Card Portability' which facilitates people to avail their entitlements from any fair price shop (FPS) in the city.

"In January this year, out of 15.15 lakh card holders, 1.68 lakh availed ration through portability. This practice encourages FPS owners to provide better consumer services and attract more people through incentives," the survey said.

On e-ration cards, the survey said, "After the facility was operationalised in April, 2015, about 10.40 lakh ration card holders have since availed the benefit. This has brought in transparency and efficient delivery of ration cards to the beneficiaries".

On the Pahal scheme, which gives subsidy to LPG consumers (with or without Aadhaar numbers) through bank accounts, the Delhi government said, "There were around 48.15 lakh LPG consumers, out of which 38.83 lakh were beneficiaries of Pahal scheme and 76.10 per cent of the consumers had seeded their accounts with Aadhaar".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)