Rations reach Abujhmad by tractor

Chhattisgarh has started sending subsidized foodgrains by tractor into Abujhmad, a remote forested region in Narayanpur district where many villagers had been walking for rations. (newkerala.com) The April 12 reports said ration shops under the Public Distribution System are now being approved at the gram panchayat level in the area, with nodal officers supervising construction and distribution. Residents told local media the new trips by tractor are reaching villages that had been cut off by rough terrain and earlier disruptions. (aninews.in, newkerala.com) Villagers had previously walked about 50 to 70 kilometers to collect grain, according to the same reports. The new arrangement brings stocks closer to settlements instead of forcing families to make multi-day trips on foot. (newkerala.com, msn.com) India’s Public Distribution System is the government network that supplies foodgrains at controlled prices, and it is a core delivery channel under the National Food Security Act. The Union food department says the system distributes allocated grain through fair price shops to eligible households across the country. (dfpd.gov.in, nfsa.gov.in) In Chhattisgarh, the state’s electronic Public Distribution System portal lists more than 14,000 ration shops and more than 80 lakh ration cards, showing the scale of the network that Abujhmad has struggled to access. The portal also shows monthly distribution tracking, which state officials use to monitor shop activity and grain movement. (epos.cg.gov.in) Abujhmad has long been one of central India’s hardest areas to serve because of dense forest, weak roads and a history of Maoist violence. Reporting from early 2026 and late 2025 described ongoing anti-Maoist operations in the region even as the state pushed new development works. (etvbharat.com, indianmasterminds.com) That mix of distance and insecurity has shaped basic services beyond food. A January 2026 report from Thulthuli village in Abujhmad said residents built about 5 kilometers of road themselves after years of waiting, underscoring how transport gaps still define daily life there. (youtube.com) Tractor delivery is not entirely new in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit belt. A June 2025 report from Bijapur described a similar model in which tractors carried ration supplies into remote settlements where standard transport struggled to operate. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) For Abujhmad residents, the immediate change is simpler than the policy language: fewer 50-kilometer walks, local stock points, and a ration system that is finally moving with the terrain instead of against it. (newkerala.com, aninews.in)