The Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs (FCS&CA), Ramban has started distribution of free ration among the ration cardholders in the categories of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority HouseHold (PHH) under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) across the district.Government of India has announced free ration for two months, May and June to ameliorate the hardships faced by the poor and needy people due to various disruptions caused by the resurgence of COVID-19 in the Country. As per Assistant Director of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs (FCS&CA) Department, Ramban Dr. Nasir Ahmed Butt, under PMGKAY, 5 kg ration is being provided per head to the families covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) during the lockdown.Till date 1153.48 Qtl of wheat and 1728.09 Qtls of rice have been distributed among AAY and PHH ration card holders, while normal distribution under NFSA for the month of May 2021 is also going on under which Department has distributed 475.43 Qtl of wheat, 2856.82 Qtl of rice and 1451.36 Qtl of atta till date, he added.He further informed that ration will be distributed through PoS machines only and that too after AADHAR authentication along with dealer’s authentication in case of mismatch. All Covid SOPs have also been followed during distribution of ration to beneficiaries.