Atta-Dal scheme to also cover farm suicide victims
Wednesday, 19/04/2017
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/community/atta-dal-scheme-to-also-cover-farm-suicide-victims/394121.html
Chandigarh : Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today ordered officials to include farm suicide victim families and all families of landless labourers in the Atta-Dal scheme.
The government was mulling to bring all farm suicide victim families under its ambit irrespective of landholding size.
“The decision has been taken on the basis of the principle that farmers who commit suicide are poor despite owning land. Hence, benefits of the scheme should be extended to the families of such farmers too,” said a senior officer of Department of Food and Civil Supplies.
To identify and remove bogus beneficiaries, the CM has also ordered re-verification of the Blue Card beneficiaries of the Atta-Dal scheme and linking of such cards with their Aaadhaar card.
In a review meeting held with top officials of the department, it was decided to rid the existing cards of the political tag attached to them by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government which had added 7 lakh beneficiaries to the scheme in the past 6-7 months of its tenure.
It was also decided that no photographs of politicians would be put on the new smart cards to be issued to the beneficiaries.
It was also decided to regularize and streamline the distribution process. Since August 2014, pulses have been distributed under the scheme erratically – only for January-March 2016 and December 2016.
