The government on Wednesday extended the period of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free food grains to the poor by three months i.e. till December 2022. It will cost Rs 44,700 crore.
New Delhi: The government on Wednesday extended the period of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free food grains to the poor by three months i.e. till December 2022. It will cost Rs 44,700 crore. It is believed that apart from giving relief to the poor from inflation, this decision has been taken in view of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
Free ration scheme extended for so many months
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters after the cabinet meeting that it was decided to extend the scheme by three months in the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said that under the scheme, 80 crore poor are given five kg of wheat and rice every month. This scheme was ending on Friday 30 September. It has been extended for three months i.e. from October to December, 2022.
According to the official statement, “At a time when the world is grappling with various problems arising out of the COVID pandemic and other reasons, India has successfully created food security for the vulnerable sections by taking necessary steps to keep things accessible to the common people.” has been kept.
It said, “People have faced a lot of difficulties during the pandemic. In view of this, the government has decided to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for three months so that the poor and underprivileged sections of the society get help during festivals and there is no problem.
So many crores spent on this scheme so far
Under the scheme, all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are given five kg of food grains per person every month. Thakur said that the government has spent Rs 3.45 lakh crore on PMGKAY since its launch in April, 2020.
He said that due to the additional expenditure of Rs 44,762 crore due to extension of the scheme for three months, the total expenditure on this would be about Rs 3.91 lakh crore. Thakur said that 122 lakh tonnes of food grains would be provided free of cost to the poor during three months from October 1. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was introduced in April, 2020 to provide relief to the poor affected by the nationwide ‘lockdown’ for the prevention of corona virus epidemic.
