Scheme launched in Andhra for doorstep delivery of rations

VIJAYWADA: The Government of Andhra Pradesh has started a programme from January 21 under which doorstep delivery of rations will be made available under the Public Distribution System (PDS). YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, formally launched 2,500 doorstep delivery vehicles at Krishna, Guntur, and West Godavari districts at the Benz Circle in Vijayawada.

The scheme will benefit around 26,39,363 cardholders residing in the state. Reddy has promised that cardholders will receive quality rice at their doorstep as well, which he hopes will improve irregularities in the PDS. For the doorstep delivery system, sustaining a cost of Rs 539 crore, the state government has distributed 9,260 subsidised vehicles to eligible unemployed youth. This new system is estimated to cost the state government an additional amount of Rs 830 crore per annum.

Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao, Civil Supplies Minister, said that every bag of rice will be sealed and tagged with a unique code, giving zero scope for adulteration.  He added that every mobile vehicle will have a GPS system fitted to track PDS deliveries in real-time and rice will be delivered in reusable bags at doorsteps by taking the cardholders’ fingerprints. He also mentioned that each vehicle will deliver goods for an average of 18 days per month. This scheme was promised by Reddy during his 3,648-km-long padayatra in 2019, where he had expressed the need for such a scheme after witnessing the plight of elderly and differently-abled people, who had to wait in long queues to get their supplies.