Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda on Monday launched the 'Dal Bhat' scheme on Independence Day under which lunch will be provided at Rs.5 to a poor person.
"We are launching the lunch scheme at Rs.5 per poor person and opening 100 centres in the state. Each centre will feed 400 people and this way 40,000 people will get lunch at Rs.5 everyday," Munda said while inaugurating the scheme at Townhall in Ranchi.
On the country's 65th Independence Day, 100 food centres in all the 24 districts were opened. In Ranchi, seven food centres have been opened. Under the scheme, a person will get 200 grammes of rice, pulses and 'chokha' (beaten potato mixed with salt). The food centres will be run by NGOs and the district administration will monitor the scheme.
"The aim of the Dal Bhat scheme is to help people work and think for the state instead of thinking of ways how to fill the stomach. More such food centres will be opened in the near future," said Munda.
More than half of Jharkhand's three crore population falls under the Below Poverty Line.