Delhi govt suspends distribution of pulses under over quality issues

The Delhi government has decided to suspend the distribution of pulses under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) over quality issues, officials said on Tuesday.

An order issued by the Food and Civil Supplies department of the Delhi government said the issue of quality of pulses was taken up with the NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd).

"Accordingly, it has been decided to postpone the distribution of pulses under the scheme(PMGKAY) for April 2020 scheduled to be started from April 29 till resolution of the issue," the order stated.

A senior Delhi government official said the quality of pulses received under the scheme was "substandard" prompting the decision to put on hold the distribution.

According to the scheme, each ration cardholder has to be provided 1 kg of pulses from fair price shops. The Delhi government is already providing 7.5 kg of free ration to cardholders during the lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 spread.