PMGKAY: Giving information about the cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has been extended for the next five years from January 1, 2024.
Free Ration Scheme: If you are one of the 80 crore people who have a ration card, then this news is useful for you. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) run by the Central Government, the scheme of providing free ration to the poor has been extended. The government has decided to extend this scheme for five years. Under this, poor people are given 5 kg of free food items every month. This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of PM Modi.
Benefit will be available till 31 December 2028
Giving information about the cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has been extended for the next five years from January 1, 2024. This scheme was earlier extended till 31 December 2023. The minister said that about Rs 11.8 lakh crore will be spent on the scheme in the next five years. Let us tell you that PMGKAY was started in the year 2020 as a global pandemic relief measure.
It was announced in the election rally to take the scheme forward
In this, in addition to 5 kg of subsidized food items under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), every beneficiary is given 5 kg of free food grains every month. After extending this scheme several times, PMGKAY Free Grain Guarantee Scheme was brought under NFSA in December 2022. Recently, during the election rally in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced to extend it for five years regarding the free grain scheme.
People of 36 states and union territories benefit
36 states and union territories are covered under NFSA. Government officials have described the cabinet’s decision as a ‘New Year’s gift to the country’s underprivileged’. Beneficiaries will not need to make any payment for the grains. PMGKAY was introduced in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. Under this, the government provides 5 kg of food grains free to individuals under NFSA quota.
At present, under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), food grains are provided to the beneficiaries at the rate of Rs 1-3 per kg. Under this scheme, poor families are given 5 kg of food grains per person every month. Antodya Anna Yojana (AAY) families are provided 35 kg of grains every month.
