MANGALURU: The Chief Minister approved a proposal to distribute toor dal and pulses along with rice and wheat through the public distribution system (PDS), said Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader.
As the introduction of proteins in the PDS will incur an additional expenditure of ``360 crore, the modalities are being worked out by both the secretary of the Finance and Food and Civil Supplies Department.
“Consumers will soon be spoilt for choice, as the government will be selling coconut, sunflower and palm oil through the PDS,” he said. Due to the seeding of Aadhaar numbers, as many as 7.5 lakh bogus ration cards in state were destroyed, he added.
“With the introduction of a coupon system, more ration cards have gone unclaimed, as was the case in the Kinya gram panchayat. The proposal to implement meals for inmates of night shelters will be implemented as a pilot scheme in a corporation,” he said. Khader said he will meet the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas to implement the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala yojana in Karnataka.
Under this scheme, BPL households will be provided with LPG connections. “In anticipation of these schemes, LPG cylinders have already been provided to BPL families,” he said. Khader will urge the Union Minister to include the economically-backward, for this scheme, who have not been included in the socio-economic survey of 2011.