By IANS
Chandigarh : The Punjab government will launch its much-publicised 'Atta-Dal' food scheme Aug 15 that will provide flour and pulses at subsidised rates to poor families, officials said Wednesday. `
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will formally launch the scheme at Ludhiana on the occasion of Independence Day, said state Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh.
The scheme, a promise made by the Shiromani Akali Dal in its election manifesto for the February assembly polls, will provide flour (Atta) at Rs.4 per kg and pulses (dal) at Rs.20 per kg.
The Akalis had made the promise blaming the Congress-led government for spiralling prices across the country.
However, the Badal government could not implement the scheme in the last six months, as lists of the scheme's beneficiaries could not be prepared. There was also confusion about who all qualified for it. People whose annual income does not exceed Rs.30,000 can now avail of this scheme.
The chief secretary said that over 1.3 million blue cards had been prepared for those entitled to avail the subsidised flour and pulses and they would be distributed by Aug 8.
But in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar, where municipal elections are to be held Aug 8, distribution of cards would start after Aug 8 and completed by Aug 15.
Ramesh Inder Singh said the required quantities of flour and pulses had been purchased and dispatched to distribution centres across Punjab.