Acid attack victims and widows will be given preference in the allotment of ration depots to women in Haryana.

Launching the portal to apply for the issuance of New Fair Price Shop License from Food and Supplies Department, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said that one-third ration depots will be given to women in the state.

He said out of the total 3,224 ration depots, 2382 ration depots would be allocated to women. The acid attack victims and widows will be given preference in the allotment of ration depots.

Licenses of 3,224 new ration depots will be given in different areas of the state through an online portal. The applicant can apply online on this portal by 7 August.

Chautala said that a provision for 33 per cent reservation for women in ration depots has now been implemented. To clear the backlog of women in already operational ration depots, a provision has been made in the allocation of new licenses.

The Deputy CM said the allocation of these new ration depots would be made under the Public Distribution System (PDS) Control Order 2022, which came into effect from 1 August, 2022.

As per the order, one fair price government shop (Ration Depot) will be established for every 300 beneficiary ration cards. This apart, 33 per cent reservation for women in ration depots has been introduced, he said adding that this is the first time that the application and selection process for ration depots is being conducted through an online portal.

Chautala said the applications received on the Antyodaya Saral portal by 7 August would be scrutinised and selected at the district level in the month of August. The list of new depot holders would be released on 1 September, 2023. The entire process of allotment of ration depots would be carried out in a transparent manner, he added.

While giving details about the criteria for the allotment of ration depots, Chautala said applicants should be a resident of the respective ward or village and his or her age should be between 21 and 45 years. Besides, the application must possess a qualification of 12th standard. The basic knowledge computer is a mandatory requirement, he added.