According to the National Sample Survey Exercise, around 5% of the total population of India sleeps without two square meals a day. The Targeted Public Distribution System or TDPS, which was earlier known as The Public Distribution System or PDS, aimed at providing food and grains to those in need.
In order to make the Targeted Public Distribution System even more beneficial and focused towards the right category of population, the Antyodaya Anna Yojana was launched in December 2000. The Antyodaya Anna Yojana is the Government scheme that was implemented in order to provide highly subsidized food to over 1 crore of the poorest of the poor families in India.
Salient features
Some of the main features of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana are listed below:
- The Antyodaya Anna Yojana had to first identify the 1 crore poorest of the poor families from amongst the below poverty family is covered under the Targeted Public Distribution System within the states
- Give them food grains at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2 per kg in the case of wheat, Rs 3 per kg in the case of rice and Re 1 for coarse grains.
- All the costs related to the distribution of, transportation, and also the margins of food grain dealers are required to be borne by the states/UTs
- The household that is chosen is entitled to 35kg of food grains every month
- The number of poor households has drastically increased to 2.5 crores, including households run by terminally ill or disabled people or persons over the age of 60 and above without the means of subsistence.
Eligibility criteria
In order to pick the households that are eligible to avail of the benefits of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, the guidelines stipulated the following criteria:
- Those households that are run by terminally ill or disabled persons, widows or persons that are 60 years old or above and have no means of societal support or assured means of subsistence
- Marginal farmers, agriculture labourers without land, rural artisans or craftsmen like blacksmiths, potters, tanners, weavers, slum dwellers, and daily wage earners in the informal sector like cobblers, snake charmers, porters, coolies, hand-cart pullers, flower sellers, destitute and other same types in both urban as well as rural areas
- Individuals that are terminally ill or disabled persons or widows or persons aged 60 years or more or single women or single men with no family and societal support or no assured means of subsistence
- All tribal families that are primitive
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries of Antyodaya Anna Yojana are listed below:
1.Urban area
- Households that have an annual income below Rs 15000
- Daily wages like rickshaw pullers
- People living in slums
- Fruit and flowers sellers on pavements
- Porters
- Domestic help
- Construction workers
- Households that are headed by disabled people or widows or persons aged 60 years or more with no societal support and assured means of subsistence
- snake charmers, cobblers extra, etc
2.Rural area
- Households that have an annual income up to Rs 15000
- Marginal farmers
- Landless agricultural labourers
- Destitute widows
- Physically handicapped persons
- Rural artisans like potters, weavers, etc