Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna: 80 crore people to get free ration every month till Diwali

New Delhi: In another major announcement, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the extension Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna till Deepawali.

This means that till November, 80 crore people will continue to get decided amount of free food grain every month. During the pandemic, the government is standing with the poor for all his needs as his friend, said the Prime Minister.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna was announced for two months –May and June in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19.

What is Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana?

Under this scheme the government allocates free-of-cost food grains of 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). This allocation is over and above NFSA foodgrains.

Under this special scheme, around 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries are being 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 under NFSA.

During 2020-21, Government of India had announced PMGKAY-I (April-June 2020) and PMGKAY-II (July-November 2020) under which 104 LMT wheat and 201 LMT rice, total 305 LMT foodgrains were successfully supplied by FCI to the respective State/ UT governments he added