The Hindu Business Line : AP finalises norms for PDS revamp

THE Andhra Pradesh Group of Ministers (GoM), constituted for the purpose of suggesting measures to revamp the public distribution system (PDS), has submitted its recommendations to the Government.

Apart from recommending issue of fresh ration cards and bar-coded coupons to all the eligible families, the GoM has also recommended eligibility criteria for below poverty line (BPL) families for obtaining the ration cards, the Minister for Civil Supplies, Mr G. Vijaya Rama Rao, told the media here on Sunday.

In the urban areas, families with annual income below Rs 24,000 would meet eligibility criteria. In the case of rural areas, the criteria would be annual income below Rs 20,000 or land holding not exceeding 2.5 acres wet or five acres dry.

Cultivators possessing the land more than the ceiling would not be eligible for white cards under BPL. Persons owing two, three or four wheelers and persons whose electricity consumption is over Rs 6,000 per annum, persons having a pucca building with a plinth area of 500 square feet or more and those in permanent employment in either government or organised sector would also be ineligible for BPL.

Stating that the Government has accepted the recommendations of the GoM, the Minister said it has been decided to issue fresh cards and coupons covering 23 municipalities and municipal corporations in each district and rural area by month-end.

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