Punjab: Free dal, tea, sugar, mustard oil and turmeric for beneficiaries of atta-dal scheme

The government wants to start the doles from April 2026. Before the elections, the government plans to give these commodities quarterly next year. “It would be started from April next year; the second lot would be given in June, another in October, and the last one in December, just before the model code comes into force,” said a source.

He added that while wheat is given at 5 kg for every member of the family, the government will hand over another packet carrying 2 kg dal, 2 kg sugar, 1 kg tea leaves, 1 litre mustard oil and 200 grams turmeric to every family. The state has 40 lakh beneficiaries of the atta-dal scheme out of a total of 65 lakh families in the state.

The freebie will cost the state exchequer Rs 1,000 crore every year. “It has been decided to give a packet for every family instead of giving these to every individual in a family. This will help in cost-cutting. Otherwise, the bill would be massive. The state is already cash-crunched,” said a source.

Once Kejriwal gives his nod, the government will start the procurement of these goods to be given away along with wheat for the quarter starting April next year.

Punjab already has an ‘atta-dal’ scheme under which 5 kg wheat per head is given to members of beneficiary families. The state has 40 lakh beneficiaries of the atta-dal scheme. The scheme was initiated by the SAD-BJP government in 2007. They had made a pre-poll promise before the 2007 Assembly elections that once they were handed power, they would initiate the scheme. Soon after their election, former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced the scheme under which wheat was given at Rs 4 per kg and dal (chana dal) at Rs 20 per kg. Later, the scheme was revamped in 2013 under the National Food Security Act. Now, beneficiaries get free wheat while the Punjab government pays for the transportation of wheat at Rs 50 to 60 crore every year. Eligibility is based on an annual income ceiling and a survey to identify eligible households who are issued ration cards.

While the SAD-BJP government had initiated the atta-dal scheme, it had given dal only rarely. The successive governments have only been giving wheat. The Congress, in its pre-poll promise before 2017, had promised free dal and tea leaves also but could not fulfil the promise for want of funds. Before the NFSA came into existence, when the state government had to pay its own bill for wheat, the government had an outstanding bill of Rs 900 crore for the purchase of wheat. The outstanding still stands, and PUNSUP, the nodal agency for the purchase of wheat, has been paying interest of Rs 5.25 crore every month.

The cash-crunched state is already burdened under a massive bill of free power of 300 units to residents of the state. The bill crosses Rs 22,000 crore every year. It also pays for the free travel of women in state-owned buses, which costs the exchequer Rs 600 crore annually. Now, with free dal and other goods, the government will have another Rs 1,000 crore added to the kitty for freebies.

The AAP government is also looking at paying Rs 1,100 per month to women voters in the state next year. For this, the government will have to shell out an extra Rs 12,000 crore per year. The AAP government’s land pooling policy, under which its ambitious schemes were to be funded, had to be scrapped due to resistance by landowners and farmers. The government is now looking at other avenues to fill its coffers, such as selling off property under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Lands (OUVGL) scheme.