It has also decided to allow these shops to sell utility items, besides foodgrains, to make them viable.
This was stated by Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his ministry.
He said the ration shop owners would be permitted to have dealerships of cooking gas and kerosene. They will also be allowed to set up STD booths in their premises.
The move follows the recommendations agreed upon at a conference of state food ministers held here recently.
Responding to some of the suggestions made by the members for preventing diversion of foodgrains from the ration shops, Pawar said a task force had been constituted to inspect and monitor the functioning of the targeted public distribution system outlets in select areas.
The team would also keep a watch on the functioning of the Antyodaya Anna Yojna for distributing wheat and rice at Rs 2 and Rs 3 a kg, respectively, to the poorest of the poor.
The scheme had been expanded this year to cover 5 million more families. About 490,000 tonnes of foodgrains were allocated for this programme every month, he said.
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