The Odisha government announced on Wednesday that the National Food Security Act will be implemented in 14 districts in the first phase from November 1 and distribution of ration cards prepared as per the provisions of the Act will begin on Gandhi Jayanti.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will distribute the ration cards at a function at the State Secretariat on October 2. On the same day, 15 Ministers will also distribute the newly-made ration cards at 14 district headquarters towns. The Ministers who would be distributing the cards have already been allotted different districts.
The 14 districts in which the Food Security Act will be implemented in the first phase are Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Subarnapur, Balangir, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Nuapada, Boudh, Deogarh, Angul, Gajapati, Malkangiri and Koraput.
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The distribution of the new ration cards will be done at the gram panchayat level in the 14 districts between October 3 and October 8. The distribution of the new ration cards would be conducted in remaining 16 districts from October 16 to October 31. More than 3.25 crore people of the State are expected to be benefited under the scheme, according to official sources.
The implementation of the scheme has been delayed in the State as the administration took a long time in making the list error-free and excluding the ineligible applicants.