Shramik Annapurna Yojana will provide Subsidized meals @Rs 10 in Gujarat
Gujarat State government has launched a meal scheme namely Shramik Annapurna Yojana under which workers of the state will get a meal per day at subsidised price. The scheme has launched specially for the workers working under unorganised sector.
Launch Details
Chief Minister of Gujarat Shree Vijay Rupani has announced about the scheme on July 2017 in an event. Officially the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Shree Nitin Patel has launched the scheme the very next day in Gandhinagar.
The State Labour and Employment Department of Gujarat will supervise the scheme and its implementation. Along with this the CM has also declared about a meeting that will take place in Gandhinagar University soon regarding the same.
Key Features
- Objective: According to the state government by offering food at minimum price they are not doing any charity or something like that. The main agenda for introducing this scheme is to feed all of the children of the labours and to pay properly as per their hard work.
- Beneficiaries: The Ministry for state Home has said that the number of scheme Gujarat government has started are all to facilitate the poor section of the state. The state government is keen to help the poor people, especially workers under these schemes.
- Thali Details: Under the scheme, the workers will be given whole meal at lowest price-. The menu of the meal will be decided upon the workers’ feedback on the food, as of now rice, dal, roti or thepla, sabzi and chutney with green chillies will be provided every day. Once in a week they will be given local sweet, sukhadi.
- Thali Price: As mentioned the main agenda of the state is to provide meal to the workers at subsidised price. The price of each plate will be Rs. 10/-. The state government will provide Rs. 20/- as subsidy on each meal.
- Distribution Points: It was started with masons in 83 Kadyanakas (hiring points) initially in Ahmadabad. Also more than 40 across the 11 cities in the state. Gradually it has reached Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Valsad, Kalol, Bhavnagar, Vapi, Ankleshwar, Dharampur, Bharuch, Rajkot and Surat as well.
- Budget: According to the reports the state has allocated Rs. 50 Cr for this scheme for the first phase. No other information or extension of budget has been confirmed yet.
How it works
- Also it has been reported that many people who are not registered workers are lining up for the meal at subsidised price. To get rid of such corrupted people the authority has decided to follow the online database of registered labours only.
- According to the database 5.66 Lac workers are being registered under the unorganised sector. Among them 95% online registering and verification have already been done. The rest will also be done within few days, as per the reports.
Advantage of the Scheme:
- The scheme has started to feed large number of poor workers who are technically seasonal employed. Hiring points, especially the construction sites are the biggest example of unorganised sector where no guarantee of work is being provided.
- For a day-to-day employee in such hiring points it is impossible to have a decent life altogether. This scheme will reduce the burden of meals from them, at least for one family member.
- Under this scheme daily a plate of food will be provided that weighs 700gm and contains 1850 calories. This is enough for one to have better life and get rid of poverty. The food will be catered between 7am to 11am.
- Annapurna Scheme will be considered as a navigator to all other schemes which are designed to facilitate millions of workers in nearly 40 unorganised sectors in the state of Gujarat.
This scheme will help the workers and their families in many ways. From now onward they don’t need to cook food for at least one or two family members who are working in construction sites. It saves a lot of money as well as the amount of calories per day is fair enough for a healthy life.
Apart from the Shramik Annapurna Scheme there are also other schemes will launch for the benefits of poor workers. Free medicines, free medical checkups and many other schemes have launched in recent past in Gujarat.
Other Schemes –
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana
- Annapurna Rasoi Yojana in Rajasthan
- Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana Gujarat
- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana