Modi govt extends scheme providing free food grain to poor by six months
Under the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, the Centre will provide free five kilogrammes of food grains per person to more than 80 crore beneficiaries who are covered under the National Food Security Act including those covered under the direct benefit transfer
The Narendra Modi government on Saturday extended the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, the scheme to provide free food grains by another six months. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi.
“In keeping with the concern and sensitivity towards poor and vulnerable sections of society, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme for another six months i.e., till September 2022 (Phase VI),” the government statement said.
“The government has spent approximately Rs. 2.60 lakh crore so far and another Rs. 80,000 crore will be spent over the next 6 months till September 2022 taking the total expenditure under PM-GKAY to nearly Rs. 3.40 lakh crore,” the cabinet note read.
The government had allocated about 759 LMT of free food grains under the scheme till Phase V. With another 244 LMT of free food grains under this extension (Phase VI), the aggregate allocation of free food grains under the PM-GKAY now stand at 1,003 LMT of food grains.
The union cabinet in November last year had extended the scheme for another four months. Under the scheme, the Centre will provide free five kilogrammes of food grains per person to more than 80 crore beneficiaries who are covered under the National Food Security Act including those covered under the direct benefit transfer.
Besides food grain, the government also provides insurance cover worth ₹50 lakh to each health worker fighting the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders would get ₹500 per month. An ex-gratia of one thousand rupees to three crore poor senior citizens, widows and disabled was also announced
The scheme was kickstarted in March 2020 during the early days of Covid-19 pandemic in the country. The first phase of the scheme was operational from April to June 2020, while the second phase was operational from July to November 2020. The third phase was operational from May to June 2021 while the fourth phase was operational from July to November 2021. The fifth phase came into effect following the extension in November 2021.