India, April 29 -- Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district administration has launched a decentralised public distribution system (PDS) delivering ration in the remote Abujhmad region directly to 11,764 beneficiaries across 67 villages in Orchha block.

The tractor-based decentralised public distribution system, introduced by the district administration this year, currently covers 4,136 ration card holders in some of the most inaccessible villages of Abujhmad, officials said.

The initiative comes after security forces and the state administration in January this year declared Abujhmad "Maoist-free" following sustained anti-insurgency operations in the region.

Long regarded as the core area of Maoist influence in Bastar and often described by...