The aim of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme, launched in 2000, is to provide special food-based assistance to destitute households. These households are given a special ration card (an “Antyodaya card”), and are entitled to special grain quotas at highly subsidised prices. Against each Antyodaya card, beneficiary household or individuals are entitled to 35kg. of subsidized rice or wheat per month from the designated local ration shop. The subsidized price charged is Rs. 2/- per kg. for wheat and Rs. 3/- per kg. for rice. Under no circumstance a FPS dealer should charge any additional charges above this price.
AAY Court Order Summary
- Every family or individual in the following social group should be given an Antyodaya Card:
- Aged, infirm, disabled, destitute men and women, pregnant and lactating women, destitute women;
- widows and other single women with no regular support;
- old persons (aged 60 or above) with no regular support and no assured means of subsistence;
- households with a disabled adult and assured means of subsistence;
- households where due to old age, lack of physical or mental fitness, social customs, need to care for a disabled, or other reasons, no adult member is available to engage in gainful employment outside the house;
- primitive tribes.
- BPL is not a criterion for getting an Antyodaya card, and it is illegal for the above mentioned groups or individuals to be denied AAY cards just because they are wrongly not included in the BPL list of the village or wrongly denied a BPL-PDS card before. This means that if an individual not having BPL-PDS card applies for AAY card, then he cannot be denied AAY card just because he/she did not possess BPL-PDS card or did not have his/her name in the BPL list. This decision can be only taken after due investigation, ascertaining the economic and social status of the individual or household.
