Met issues second yellow alert within a week
After a short period of relief, lasting only a week, Kolkatans and residents of south Bengal are witnessing yet another wave of hot and humid weather.
West Bengal will roll out the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ programme under which the National Food Security Act beneficiaries from other states can collect food grains from ration shops across West Bengal from 3 August.
“Any migrant worker from another state can collect 50 per cent of their allotted food grains through biometric authentication from ration shops by showing their ration cards,” said state food minister Rathin Ghosh at a press conference today.
To prevent corruption, the department has come up with an SMS system for the beneficiaries. Mr Ghosh said that after collecting food grains, the beneficiary will receive an SMS informing him/her about the scale he/she belongs to, the total allotment and the amount that has been collected. It will be similar to the one that a bank sends to a customer after he/she withdraws money, he said.
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“The Supreme Court had ordered to implement the programme within 31 July. CM Mamata Banerjee has set up a committee and we are working as per recommendations. We have already notified it and will launch it from 3 August,” he said.
Banerjee had earlier said that the state does not have any problem in implementing the programme. It allows eligible beneficiaries to get food grain under the National Food Security Act from fair price shops across India without securing a new ration card.
The reform especially empowers the migratory population, mostly daily wagers, urban poor, temporary workers, domestic workers, who frequently change their place of dwelling to be self-reliant in food security.
This technology-driven reform enables the beneficiaries to get their entitled quota of food from any electronic point of sale (e-PoS) enabled fair Price Shops anywhere in the country, according to the Ministry of Finance.
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