Ranchi, March 3 (PTI) Jharkhand government on Thursday declared that it will provide 1 kg of pulses at Re one per month to each family under the Food Security Scheme every month.

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The cost of distribution will be borne by the state government, Jharkhand Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon told the media in a post-budget briefing.

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A total of Rs 2,552.58 crore has been allocated for food security in the tribal state in the Rs 1.01-lakh crore budget for the 2022-23 fiscal. The budget was placed in the Jharkhand assembly on Thursday.

Oraon said that 64 lakh families will be benfited by the new government scheme.

He said that under the Food Security Scheme in the state 35 kg foodgrains at the rate of Re one per kg are being provided every month to nine lakh families.

Under the priorty household scheme five kg foodgrain per person are being made available to 2.28 crore people at subsidised rates, he said.

"Food right activists have been demanding distribution of protein supplement along with rice to families enrolled under food security schemes to deal with malnutrition in the state," Oraon said.

The budget provided for inclusion of five lakh more households, who are left out from the ambit of the National Food Security Act to the Jharkhand State Food Security (JSFS) scheme, he said.

Earlier, 15 lakh households were covered under JSFS scheme, 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)