Uttar Pradesh State PCS

• 13 Dec 2021

Free Ration Distribution Campaign Launched

Why in News

On December 12, 2021, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the free ration distribution campaign under the National Food Security Act. On this occasion, the Chief Minister distributed free ration to 10 beneficiaries.

Key Points

• It is to be known that under this campaign, 15 crore people of the state will be distributed free ration from December 2021 to March 2022 through 80,000 ration shops.
• The Chief Minister said that in the scheme being implemented today, 1 liter edible oil, 1 kg salt, 1 kg pulses and 1 kg sugar are being provided to each Antyodaya card holder free of cost along with permissible food grains.
• Similarly, 1 liter of edible oil, 1 kg of salt and 1 kg of pulses are being provided free of cost to each eligible household card holder along with permissible food grains.
• It is worth noting that in the year 2020, from the month of April to November, 80 crore eligible people of the country including 15 crore needy people of Uttar Pradesh were benefited under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana'. In the year 2020, the state government had also distributed free food grains for three months from April to June, which benefited 15 crore people of the state.
• In the year 2021, even during the second wave of Corona, the Central Government had implemented the scheme of distribution of free food grains from May, 2021 (Ram Navami) to Deepawali (7 months). Similarly, the state government also distributed free food grains to Antyodaya and eligible household card holders till June, July and August, 2021.
• With a view to ensure that every needy gets ration, work is being done to re-launch this mega food grain distribution scheme and take it forward from Diwali to Holi.

Saryu Canal National Project

Why in News

On December 11, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Saryu Canal National Project to the nation at a cost of Rs 9800 crore in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Key Points

• It is known that the work of the Saryu Canal National Project was started four decades ago in the Bahraich district during the tenure of Indira Gandhi in the year 1978, then the cost of this project was less than 100 crores. In the year 1982, 9 districts including Balrampur were connected with this project.
• The length of this project is 318 km, while 6623 km long canal systems have been constructed, which are linked to this project. It was declared a national project in the year 2012.
• With this project, more than 30 lakh farmers of 6,227 villages of Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj districts of Uttar Pradesh will be benefited and about 15 lakh hectares of these 9 districts will get irrigation facility.
• The Chief Minister said that the Saryu Canal National Project fulfills the dream of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 'River Connect Project'. This project connects Ghaghara River with Saryu River, Saryu River with Rapti River, Rapti River with Banganga River and Banganga River with Rohin River respectively.
• With this project, the farmers of this area will be able to do other agricultural work like vegetable and horticulture. The income of farmers will increase due to increase in agricultural production.
• In order to double the income of farmers by the year 2022, about 100 irrigation projects have been targeted in the country and the work of taking forward these irrigation projects in a time bound manner has started. Out of the 18 projects that were selected under this scheme, 17 projects have been completed. With the completion of these 17 irrigation projects, 22 lakh hectares of land is getting irrigation facility