The Odisha government has extended distribution of additional 5kg rice under the State Food Security Scheme for another six months.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s announcement came on Friday when the state was celebrating Utkal Divas, its 87th foundation day.

While the Centre provides rice to the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act, the state government has extended it to 8.09 lakh people left out of the central scheme. The Odisha government provides rice at the rate of Re 1 per kg under the SFSS.

As per the chief minister’s directive, each beneficiary of the SFSS will get an additional 5kg of rice from the allotment month of April 2022 to September 2022, an official statement said.

“For this purpose, 24,270 tonnes of rice will be supplied from the state pool with an expenditure of Rs 91.70 crore from the state’s own fund,” it said.

This will facilitate beneficiaries enrolled in the SFSS to remain on a par with the 3.26 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, the statement said.