Lucknow, Aug 4 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh government has made elaborate arrangements for free distribution of food grains to 80 lakh people from 80,000 ration shops in the state on Thursday under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, an official spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is a food security welfare scheme that was announced by the Centre in March last year due to the coronavirus disease pandemic, he said.

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Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will carry out the distribution from a fair price shop at Vasudev Ghat, Ayodhya, the spokesperson said.

On the same day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the public representatives present at these price shops of state through video conferencing, during which the beneficiaries will share their experiences of the ration distribution system and how it changed their lives amid the ongoing pandemic, he said.

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Around 100 beneficiaries will be invited at each fair price shop and will receive free ration under the scheme.

The chief minister has given instructions to ensure utmost transparency during the distribution , for which a nodal officer will be appointed at each shop.

Adityanath has asked officials to install television sets so that the maximum number of people can get the prime minister's guidance.

Meanwhile, the beneficiaries will receive the free food grain in a 25 kg ration bags, the spokesperson said.

In order to help the migrants, poor and under-privileged sections of the society tide over the hardship due to the pandemic, the government is providing free 5 kg food grains to over 15 crore beneficiaries of the state.

Under the scheme, each beneficiary receives 3 kg wheat and 2 kg rice.

Aiming at reducing woes of the economically marginalised citizens and ensuring that no one sleeps hungry in the state amid prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government has so far distributed approximately 100 lakh MT of free food grains in the state since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April last year, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)