With the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections just a few months away, the Punjab Aam Aadmi Party government has announced a new initiative to distribute free ration kits among all 1.33 crore individual National Food Security Act ( NFSA) beneficiaries in the state, beginning April.The beneficiaries will get 2 kg each of split black urad dal and sugar, one litre of mustard oil, 1 kg of iodised salt and 200 gm of turmeric powder, along with the wheat that is already being given to the 40 lakh NFSA beneficiary families.The scheme, called “Meri Rasoi Yojana”, was announced by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here today. The ration will be given for a trimester, along with the three-month supply of wheat (5 kg per person per month or 15 kg per person for a trimester) given to these blue card holders in the state.The populist move is being seen as an attempt to woo voters ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections that are crucial for AAP, as this is the only state where the party is in power.In the past two years, a number of NFSA beneficiaries — nearly 23 lakh — were weeded out after they were found ineligible. By ensuring that the remaining beneficiaries get ration along with the free wheat, the government is clearly appeasing the voters in the lower economic strata.The SAD-BJP government in 2007 had first launched the atta-dal scheme, where wheat was provided to beneficiaries at Rs 4 a kg and chana dal at Rs 20 a kg. This scheme was a driving force in getting the two alliance partners back to power in 2012. Since then, the scheme has been revised several times, with only wheat being provided to the beneficiaries. After Covid, the wheat is being distributed (for three months) free of cost.It is learnt that a sum of Rs 1,000 crore has been set aside for this scheme by the state Finance Department. Official sources told The Tribune that the decision to start the scheme was taken in August last year.MARKFED will procure the ration by floating tenders and these food items will be deposited by dealers at the 100 godowns/covered storage points of the Food and Supply Department. Around 40,000 families, who get their wheat supply from each of these godowns once for a three-month period, will also get these additional ration kits. As soon as the ration supplies are delivered to the godowns by the vendors, Rs 250 crore for each trimester will be released to them.Mann said it was ironic that Punjab had been feeding millions of people in the country and its farmers had made the country food surplus, but many families in the state were just getting one meal a day. “Our children are under-nourished and suffer from iron deficiency. The meals they get are not rich in protein. As a welfare government, it is our duty to ensure that every citizen in the state gets a wholesome meal,” he said. The CM said frequent quality control checks would be made to ensure that all beneficiaries got good quality ration.