Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday started distributing three-month advance ration to the Public Distribution System (PDS) beneficiaries at 108 PDS centres, including designated schools and colleges.
The beneficiaries were asked to put their bags in the designated circles and wait in shades for their turn for effective social distancing to check the spread of COVID-19. It will be done for over a period of 15 days.
On March 27, the Odisha government had announced Rs 2200-crore assistance package for the unprivileged section, who have been hit hard by the 21-day nationwide lockdown. It had decided to distribute rice, wheat and kerosene oil to 94 lakh beneficiaries under the State Food Security Scheme for the months of April, May and June.
The Centre had also announced to distribute 5 kg of wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses free-of-cost every month over the next three months to 80 crores poor across the country because of the lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak.
