Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Chennai, Nov 1 (IANS) In a major relief to senior citizens, the Tamil Nadu government has reduced the eligibility age for home delivery of essential commodities under the Public Distribution System (PDS) from 70 years to 65 years.
According to Cooperation Department officials, the decision was taken after several requests from the public, urging that this facility be extended to people aged 65 years and above, who often face difficulty in visiting fair price shops.
As part of the revised programme, the department has decided to deliver ration items to eligible beneficiaries in the first week of every month – exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays – instead of the second week as earlier.
Starting this November, door deliveries will be done on November 3 and 4, while the subsequent months will follow the same pattern.
Officials said the change is aimed at improving the efficiency of the scheme and ensuring timely delivery of items to elderly and disabled cardholders. He said earlier delays and logistics challenges had discouraged many beneficiaries from opting for home delivery.
The home delivery scheme, launched to assist senior citizens above 70 years of age and persons with disabilities (PWDs), originally covered 20.42 lakh elderly people and 1.27 lakh disabled people.
However, officials revealed that about 8 percent of those listed were found dead, leading to a revision of the database.
“As the age limit has now been reduced to 65 years, the updated list will include more beneficiaries, including those whose names were inadvertently left out earlier. The final list will be ready in the coming months,” a senior department official said.
Officials also noted that the lukewarm response to the initiative in recent months was due to several factors, including delays in distribution and migration of beneficiaries to other districts.
The government hopes that the new delivery schedule and expanded eligibility criteria will help address these concerns and increase participation. PDS Home Delivery Scheme was launched with the objective of providing doorstep delivery of essential commodities like rice, sugar, wheat and kerosene to the elderly citizens and disabled people who are unable to visit ration shops in person.
With the latest amendment, thousands of additional beneficiaries across Tamil Nadu are expected to benefit from this initiative.
–IANS
aal/vd