PMGKAY: Free ration scheme for poor extended by 3 months

At a cost of Rs 44,762 crore, the government on Wednesday extended its programme to give free rations to the poor by three months in an effort to ease the pain of high inflation and gain political advantage in the upcoming Gujarat elections.

According to I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, the programme that provided 5 kg of free rice and wheat to 80 crore poor people each month, which was set to end on Friday, will now last until December 31, 2022. In a meeting on Wednesday, the Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to extend the programme by three months, he continued.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was started in April 2020 to help the poor whose livelihoods were shuttered by a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the Coronavirus. “At a time when the world is battling with the effects of Covid on its decline and insecurity due to various reasons, India has been successfully maintaining food security for its vulnerable sections while taking necessary steps to keep availability and affordability for common man,” an official statement said.

“Recognising that people have gone through a difficult period of the pandemic, the government has decided to extend PMGKAY for a period of three months so that poor and vulnerable sections of society are supported for the forthcoming major festivals.” Under this scheme, 5 kg of food grain per person per month is provided free of cost for all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Thakur said the government has so far spent Rs 3.45 lakh crore on the PMGKAY scheme since its launch in April 2020. With the additional expenditure of about Rs 44,762 crore for the latest extension, the overall expenditure of the PMGKAY will be about Rs 3.91 lakh crore for all the phases, he said.

He also said that 122 lakh tonnes of foodgrains will be given out free of cost in the three months from October 1.

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