Centre resumes free food for poor scheme

According to official data, the Food Corporation of India currently has 77 million tonne of foodgrains, 3.6 times more than the required emergency reserve for this time of the year.

The Union government on Friday resumed the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, a programme to distribute free foodgrain to the poor as a food assistance due to disruptions caused by India’s surging Covid second wave.

Over 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act will get an additional 5kg of wheat or rice and 1kg of gram free during May and June 2021, under the scheme which was launched first in April 2020 during the national lockdown.

Over 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act will get an additional 5kg of wheat or rice and 1kg of gram free during May and June 2021, under the scheme which was launched first in April 2020 during the national lockdown.

“Under this special scheme (PMGKAY), around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA, namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Householders (PHH), will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) at a scale of 5 Kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements,” an official statement said.

“The country has plentiful stocks of foodgrains to meet demand,” a food ministry official said.

According to official data, the Food Corporation of India currently has 77 million tonne of foodgrains, 3.6 times more than the required emergency reserve for this time of the year.

Nearly 810 million qualify for subsidised foodgrains under the food security law, under which beneficiaries get 5kg of wheat or rice covers per person per month. The Act applies to 67% of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban pockets).

The Centre will “bear full expenditure” of over ₹26,000 crore for the additional foodgrain allocation to the beneficiaries as part of central assistance to States, an official said.

Record Covid-19 infections and a crippled health care system have left several migrant workers jobless, and hit the income of the poor due to lockdown-like restrictions in several states as authorities battle the pandemic.

In 2020, when India imposed a strict four-month lockdown to deal with pandemic, a migrant crisis had gripped the country. Thousands of jobless migrants fled cities and faced hunger.

According to reports, migrants have begun moving out of cities such as Mumbai and Delhi as a second wave of Covid infections rages.

An official said migrants should not panic and they can withdraw subsidised ration from any state under the ‘One nation, one ration card’ programme. While the programme is operational in 32 states, Delhi is not one of them.