5 Million More Families To Get Subsidised Food

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the expansion of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana to cover another 5 million families, involving an additional subsidy of Rs 509.97 crore, in addition to the 10 million poor households covered under the scheme currently.

The Antyodaya Anna Yojana will now cover a total of 15 million families, about 23 per cent of an estimated 65.2 million households in India living below the poverty line, an official spokesperson of the cabinet committee said.

The total foodgrains required to cover 5 million families is 2.1 million tonnes, including 9,27,000 tonnes of wheat and 11,73,000 tonnes of rice.

Under the scheme, each family is given 35 kg of foodgrains per month, wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg. The additional subsidy required for the expansion will be Rs 509.97 crore.

The Cabinet committee hiked the minimum support price for both ball and milling categories of copra by Rs 20 per quintal to Rs 3,570 and Rs 3,320 respectively, for the 2003 season.

The committee, in its meeting last night, also permitted Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to raise its equity in the Bina refinery from 26 per cent to 50 per cent.

The committee