The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday decided to extend the free ration scheme for the poor, which was believed to be one of the major factors behind the ruling party's massive win in the recently concluded Assembly polls, for three months.
The decision to extend the scheme was taken at the first meeting of the new UP cabinet, which was chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, held here. UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya told reporters after the meeting that about 15 crore people would be benefitted by the scheme.
Although the scheme has been extended for three months, sources in the government said that it was likely to continue till the next Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in 2024.
BJP leaders said that the free ration scheme had created a huge 'labharthi varg' (beneficiary class) which had voted for the party in large numbers cutting across caste and religious considerations.
''We want the free ration scheme to be extended further...it will certainly incur a huge financial burden on the new government but we need to continue to provide this benefit to this labharthi varg....its support will prove crucial for us in the 2024 LS polls,'' a senior state BJP leader had earlier said while speaking to DH.
Sources said that the state government could also make a decision with regard to providing two free gas cylinders in a year to the poor families in the next few days. Sources said that the beneficiaries of the free gas cylinder scheme numbered around 1.65 crores and it would entail an expenditure of over Rs 3000 crore on the state exchequer.
According to the officials, there were around 15-crore beneficiaries of the free ration scheme in the state. Under the scheme, the Antyoday Cardholders get 35 kg of free ration every month while the Grihasthi Cardholders get five kg of free ration per unit every month.
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