Bhubaneswar:  In a major relief to about 59 lakh poor families, Orissa Government today announced that it would provide 25 kg of rice every month at Rs 2 per kg from August 1 to them.

"Every BPL family will get 25 kg of rice per month at Rs two per kg from August 1," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who reviewed the Public Distribution System (PDS) at a meeting, told reporters here.

"We hope it will give considerable relief to the poor who are severely affected by price rise," Patnaik said.

The decision to provide rice at Rs 2 per kg instead of the existing rate of Rs 6.30 is expected to put an additional financial burden of about Rs 800 crore on the state exchequer every year, state Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadei said.

Besides benefiting about 37.59 lakh BPL families in the state, the announcement would also cover another 5.5 lakh urban poor families and over five lakh families living Above Poverty Line (APL) in the backward Kalakandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) region, sources said.

This apart, nearly 12,64,500 families getting rice under the antyodaya scheme and 3.15 lakh children staying in tribal residential schools would also be benefited from this.

"Nearly 59 lakh families will be benefited from the new announcement," the finance minister said, adding the government might go for a loan to meet the additional expences.

"The government would shoulder the financial burden to provide succour to the poor to mitigate their plight," Ghadei said.

Source : PTI