Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced delivery of rations at the doorstep of beneficiaries. This initiative has already been launched by AAP Government in Delhi.

Mann said his officers would call the beneficiaries and ask for the timing for the delivery of the ration, and they would deliver the items at that time. He clarified that this is an optional scheme.

The CM said that the government has decided to make the lives of the people easier and that the government is doing what it should do. He said the scheme would be implemented after chalking out modalities.

AAP’s national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced just before the Assembly election in Punjab that they would implement the system in Punjab if they form the government in the state. The system was first introduced in Delhi. Recently, AAP won the assembly election by winning 92 seats out of a total of 117 seats.

Read: Punjab MLAs will now be eligible for only one pension: Bhagwant Mann

The Delhi government is already delivering 100 essential public services to the public at their doorsteps, including caste, marriage certificates, new water connections, and driving licenses. The Delhi government has established a dedicated helpline for this purpose. The scheme was launched in September 2018 with just 30 public services on the list, such as the delivery of marriage certificates, birth certificates, driving licenses, and caste certificates. The service was expanded further in the year 2019 by adding 70 more services to the existing list, and by next year it will be further expanded and the scheme will have 300 services, said sources.

Adityanath takes the first decision.

After becoming Chief Minister for the second time, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has taken the first decision and announced the extension of the free ration scheme in his state by three months. It will be in force till June 30th this year.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme was extended for another six months by the Union Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The scheme was extended till September this year and each beneficiary is entitled to an additional 5-kilogramme free ration each month in addition to the standard NFSA quota of foodgrains.

GKAY's was set to close in March. The system, the world's largest food security programme, has been in operation since April 2020.