Assam CM Launches Orunodoi 3.0, 1992167 New Beneficiaries to Get Ration Cards

Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched the third phase of the landmark Orunodoi scheme aimed at guaranteeing food security for all its citizens.

Assam currently has 2,31,97,608 beneficiaries receiving free rice under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). The scheme covers a total of 66,86,845 households, including 6,72,024 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families and 60,14,821 priority households (PHHs).

In January of this year, the Assam government successfully inducted 42,85,745 new beneficiaries under the Food Security Act. Additionally, 10,73,489 new families were provided ration cards in January of the previous year. The process of selecting the previously mentioned 19,92,167 new beneficiaries and issuing new ration cards to families will commence today, September 19, 2024.

The government has distributed the new beneficiaries among the districts based on the number of assembly constituencies in each district. District Commissioners will be responsible for selecting beneficiaries and issuing ration cards according to the socio-economic conditions of the residents in their respective constituencies. All new beneficiaries selected during this round will belong to the Priority Household (PHH) category.

Interested individuals will need to submit an application form, and the selection process will be conducted in accordance with the amendments to the Assam Food Safety Rules 2022.

Application forms can be submitted to the Village Panchayat or Municipality Office in each district, or to the Office of the Food Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Department at the District or Subdivision level. The Verification Committee at the gram panchayat or municipality level will prepare the beneficiary list. Once the Scrutiny Committee at each Block level reviews and approves the list, the ration cards will be issued to the selected families. This process will involve digitizing all details of the beneficiaries, overseen by the Scheduled District Income Commissioner, the Guardian Minister, and the Chief Executive Member of the Council as needed.

The entire process is aimed to be completed within approximately two months, by November 15, 2024. It commenced on September 19, 2024, under the supervision of the Department of Food Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs in all district subdivisions.

Applications can be submitted starting September 19. The application form is already available on the portal at pds.assam.gov.in.

The completed application form can be submitted to the relevant Village Panchayat, Municipality Office, or the district sub-divisional office of the Food Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Department.

Submission of applications will be from September 19 to October 15, 2024. 

The following are the eligibility criteria for applicants: The annual income of the applicant's family must be less than Rs. 4 lakhs. It is mandatory for the applicant to have an Aadhaar card. The applicant must be an Indian citizen. Additionally, all Master Roll employees under the State Government, daily wage workers, retired Class IV employees of Central and State Governments, and contractual employees with an annual income of less than Rs. 4 lakhs are also eligible to apply.

The required documents are completed and correctly filled Form 'C', Aadhaar Card, Voter Card or List of Votes, Address Certificate, Photographs of all family members, Bank Account Details and Active Phone Number for family contact

Main benefits for beneficiaries under the Food Security Act are that each family with a ration card is entitled to free treatment of up to Rs. 5 lakh per annum through the Ayushman Card, as part of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and Ayushman Assam Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Families with ration cards that do not have a cooking gas (LPG) connection can receive a free cooking gas connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).     Beneficiaries can also apply for the Arunodaya 3.0 scheme, which has been launched on Thursday.

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