Maharashtra govt retains 'Shivbhojan Thali' and 'Anandacha Sidha' schemes

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 17 (ANI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said that the state government has decided to retain 'Shivbhojan Thali' and 'Anandacha Sidha'.
In a written reply, Ajit Pawar has informed the Maharashtra Assembly that the state Government has decided to not discontinue 'Shivbhojan Thali' and 'Anandacha Sidha'.
He added that payments of some of the vendors of these schemes are pending, so initiatives are being taken to clear their dues at the earliest.
Anandacha Sidha scheme was first introduced in 2022 during Diwali, providing four food items at a concessional rate of Rs 100 to families with saffron ration cards.
This is in addition to the regular distribution of foodgrains. The beneficiaries of the kit include Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority households as defined in the National Food Security Act, 2013.
The kit would also be distributed to the APL farmer (saffron) cardholders of fourteen districts that were identified as suicide prone districts (these include districts of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Amravati division and Wardha district from Nagpur Division).
Notably, to provide food at discounted rates to the poor and needy people of the state, the state government started Shiv Bhojan Yojana in 2020.
Shiv Bhojan Thali includes 2 chapatis, 1 bowl of cooked vegetables, 1 bowl of dal and 1 Mood rice. "Shiv Bhojan Application" has been developed to implement the Shiv Bhojan Scheme.
At present, the Shiv Bhojan scheme has a target of 2.00 lakhs thalis per day and 1904 Shiv Bhojan centers are functioning in the state.
According to the government, to maintain effective control over Shiv Bhojan centers, the installation of CCTV is done also the geo-fencing facility has been started in a 100-meter radius.
Total 18,83,96,254 Shiv Bhojan Thalis have been made available to the beneficiaries since the inception of Shiv Bhojan Yojana till March 27, 2024, the government stated. (ANI)