Punjab to replace blue cards with smart ration cards by September

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has started the exercise of replacing the existing blue cards of beneficiaries with smart ration cards. The government has assured that only the old cards have been annulled, while list of beneficiaries stays intact.
Food supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said the existing blue cards of the beneficiaries were being replaced due to the automation and end-to-end computerization of the foodgrain distribution process. He added that foodgrain distribution exercise is carried out twice a year in six-month cycles in March and September.
Foodgrains are being distributed in the March cycle on the old cards but in the September cycle smart ration cards would be used.
The smart cards have chip embeded into them with complete details of identification data of the beneficiary. Therefore, the smart ration card holder beneficiaries need not carry identification proofs like Aadhaar to the fair price shop in order to collect their share of foodgrains.
Ashu said that the Union government has allowed Punjab to have 1.41 crore beneficiaries of approximately 35.36 lakh families under the subsidized ration scheme. Out of these, 54.7% is rural population and 44.8% urban population. But practically, 35.33 lakh families, having approximately 1.37 crore beneficiaries, were at present taking benefit of the scheme.
The minister added that the state government would not only include all persons belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) but also the families of those suffering from leprosy, acid attack and HIV/AIDS. He said under the smart ration card scheme, the state government was also going to cover beneficiaries of Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana (MGSVY), landless farm labourers, ex-servicemen having annual income up to Rs 60,000 per annum (excluding pension), old age pensioners. Other who will be covered include all households headed by a widow or a single woman (unmarried or separated or deserted), homeless and kucha households.