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Free ration scheme’s extension to benefit 800 million beneficiaries: PM Modi
The cost of extending the scheme for the next four months stands at approximately ₹53,000 crore, according to a cabinet note.
New Delhi: The central government will continue to provide free cereals to nearly 800 million poor people by extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) till March next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Also Read | Centre extends PMGKAY, beneficiaries to get free-of-cost foodgrains till March 2022
“We are running the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to provide free grains to more than 80 crore people of the country, so that they don’t face more problems,” Modi told the media ahead of Parliament’s winter session. “The scheme has now been extended to March 2022. With a cost of nearly ₹260,000 crore ( ₹2.6 trillion), the scheme assures that over 80 crore people have food to cook in their homes.”
The cabinet on November 24 approved a proposal to extend the PMGKAY, a scheme to distribute free grains per month as a Covid-19 relief measure to two-thirds of India’s population, who were identified as beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act, until March 2022.
The cost of extending the scheme for the next four months stands at approximately ₹53,000 crore, according to a cabinet note.
Under PMGKAY, the government provides 5 kg of food grain per person per month to 793.9 million beneficiaries. These recipients are covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 and therefore also receive subsidised cereals every month.
The PMGKAY was meant to provide higher quantities of food handouts during the pandemic. It was launched in March 2020 for the April-June 2020 period, but was extended until November 30, 2021.
