It involves giving cash assistance instead of subsidised foodgrains to people living below poverty line. The cash, equivalent to the subsidy amount, will be credited in the savings bank accounts of the BPL beneficiaries every month.

The proposal will be submitted to the Union Food ministry shortly for approval. Once approved, it is to be launched as “pilot project” in two districts under the Lucknow division — Lakhimpur Kheri and Hardoi. The expenditure on the new scheme in two districts is estimated to be little over Rs 206 crore per annum. “The cash-food subsidy will be a win-win situation for both Centre and the state government as it will prevent huge expenditure on procurement, transport and storage and distribution through the network of PDS shops across the state,” said a senior government official monitoring the project.

Besides the above benefit, the scheme will put an end to all kinds of irregularities like diversion of foodgrain by the food department officials or PDS shop owners. “Our aim is to provide relief to the poor and the downtrodden but the government is more involved in probing one scam after the other in BPL distribution,” the official said.

The beneficiaries will not be selected through any fresh survey and subsidy will be given to all ration card holders already listed in BPL category.

The list will be revised as per the ongoing survey of the BPL card holders, which is expected to be completed by the end of April. The official sources said as much as 40 per cent existing card holders are to be eliminated after the survey.

In November, Chief Minister Mayawati had ordered a fresh survey of BPL card-holders following a food scam in several districts in the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav regime. The scam ran into several thousand crores and the CM had wanted to eliminate the bogus card-holders. The present government had also ordered an inquiry into food scam by the recently constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT). On the recommendation of the SIT, the state government had sent a request to the Centre for CBI probe into the scam.