Bhubaneswar, Dec 11 (IANS): Odisha government has extended distribution of free rations to the beneficiaries covered under its own State Food Security Scheme (SFSS).

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed officials concerned to extend distribution of additional 5 kg of rice per head free of cost to beneficiaries of the SFSS from December 2021 to March 2022, Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement on Saturday.

The directive was issued in view of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation. As many as 2,88,528 families comprising 9,15,532 members covered under the scheme will be benefited from this move, it said.

For this purpose, the state government will distribute 4,578 tonnes of rice per month totalling 18,310.640 tonnes of rice (for four months) from the state pool with an expenditure of Rs 68.13 crore from its own fund.

This will facilitate beneficiaries enrolled in the State Food Security Scheme to remain on a par with beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA), the CMO said.

Notably, the Union government has recently extended the free foodgrain distribution scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) for four more months from December.

Under the PMGKAY, the Centre gives an additional five kilograms of rice or wheat per month to beneficiaries of the NFSA over and above their usual monthly quota for free.