Millers and processing units empanelled with the DSCSC will be tasked with lifting foodgrains from Food Corporation of India godowns, grind the wheat to make wheat flour, clean the rice of impurities, pack and send the material to ration shops. (File) The Delhi government’s scheme for doorstep delivery of ration, scheduled to be launched in March, will include a grievance redressal system, under which a call centre will be set up to register complaints from ration card holders.
The proposed arrangements have been laid out in the document through which the scheme was notified on February 20. The ration-at-doorstep scheme was one of the major poll promises of the AAP in the run-up to the 2020 assembly polls.
“There will be provision of a grievance management system to enable the beneficiaries of Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana (MMGGRY) to raise their grievances related to the scheme. A call centre for beneficiaries is also envisaged under the scheme. The direct to home delivery (DHD) agency shall also carry out beneficiary reach out programmes from time to time and provide various scheme related information to the beneficiaries,” the notification states.
The government has also decided that only those who sign up for the scheme will be brought under its ambit, in a shift from the initial presumption of consent framework under which beneficiaries willing to stick to the existing arrangements were expected to inform the food department of their choice.
“The scheme will be optional, and an option shall be taken from the beneficiaries of existing PDS scheme in Delhi, as to whether they want to enrol under MMGGRY or continue under existing PDS. Those who are not opting for MMGGRY shall continue to get their ration as per existing mechanism and price,” says the notification order.
The implementation of the scheme will be overseen by the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (DSCSC) and the Delhi Consumer’s Co-operative Wholesale Store Ltd (DCCWS).
Millers and processing units empanelled with the DSCSC will be tasked with lifting foodgrains from Food Corporation of India godowns, grind the wheat to make wheat flour, clean the rice of impurities, pack and send the material to ration shops.
The DCCWS shall engage agencies to carry out the last-mile delivery of ration till the doorstep of beneficiaries, the notification says. “The DHD agency shall notify the beneficiary in advance through SMS. The packed ration shall be handed over to the beneficiary only after his/her successful biometric authentication usingthe e-POS device,” it adds.
Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, which governs the PDS, the 17.54 lakh ration cards in Delhi are divided into three categories — 15.12 lakh priority households (PR), 1.73 lakh priority state households (PRS), and 68,468 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families.
The beneficiaries coming under the PR and PRS categories are entitled to 5 kg of foodgrains per month while AAY households receive 25 kg wheat, 10 kg rice and 1 kg sugar.