Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government will provide food items like wheat, rice, pulses and sugar free of cost to around 60 lakh ration card holding families through fair price shops starting April 1, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Wednesday.
The scheme is to ensure that the poor, who depend on daily wages for livelihood, are not affected by the 21-day nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak and do not have to purchase food items for the month of April, he said after a meeting in Gandhinagar. "With the entire country under lockdown, Gujarat has made an important decision, that poor families - around 60 lakh families, or 3.25 crore individuals -- holding ration cards, will get food items, including 3.5 kg wheat and 1.5 kg rice