Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana will be extended till Diwali. “In this time of pandemic, the government is standing by the poor with every need, as their partner,” the Prime Minister said in an address to the nation. The scheme will ensure free ration will be provided to 80 crore beneficiaries.
“Till November, free food grains will be available in fixed quantity every month to more than 80 crore countrymen,” Modi said.
What is Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana?
The Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in March, 2020 to distribute foodgrains quota of 5 kg per person per month free of cost to ameliorate the hardship faced by the poor due to economic disruption caused by Covid-19. The scheme provides to approximately 79.39 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Nearly 80 lakh tonne foodgrains have to be issued under the PMGKAY scheme.
How It Helped
The (PMGKAY) was announced in 2020 for three months till July and later extended till November to combat the economic impact on the poor. Under this scheme additional 5 kg wheat and rice along with 1 kg pulses to each family per month is provided to beneficiaries registered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) via ration shops.
This is over and above the existing quota given under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). In April, the government decided to resume providing free food grains to the poor in May and June. But this year, only grains will be given, the Centre announced.
Under the PMGKAY last year, over 200 lakh tonne of free food grains were provided amounting to a fiscal outgo of over Rs 75,000 crore, covering 80.96 crores NFSA beneficiaries.
About 1.3 lakh tonne of wheat and rice have been provided to 2.6 crore beneficiaries so far in June.
PM Modi’s Scheme
The scheme is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the poor and will cost the exchequer over Rs 26,000 crore, including on account of interstate transportation of food grains. PM Modi has stressed that it is important that the poor have nutritional support when the country is facing a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The PMGKAY was re-implemented during the second Covid-19 wave amid demand from Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttarakhand governments as well as from MPs including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and TMC leader Saugata Roy.
In June, under National Food Security Act, foodgrains have been distributed to around 90 per cent and 12 per cent of NFSA beneficiaries for May and June 2021, respectively, incurring a food subsidy of more than Rs 13,000 crore for May and June 2021. The food subsidy incurred for PMGKAY, so far, is more than Rs 9,200 crore for May and June 2021.
Criticism
The Centre received flak for no free foodgrains distribution to migrants amid the resurgence of Covid-19 crisis in May. Last year, the government had distributed 6.40 lakh tonne of foodgrains for free to migrants and stranded migrants.
Food and Public Distribution secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said that the Centre made the decision as there is no panic situation and no complete national lockdown unlike last year.
“Migrant crisis is not as big as it was last year. … It is not a complete national lockdown. It is a local lockdown, industry is working. The complete lockdown is not there. That panic is also not there,” Pandey said. Those migrants, who have gone back to their villages, are availing ration supply either through state or central ration cards, he said.
Migrant Crisis
The PMGKAY goes hand-in-hand with “One Nation One Ration Card” (ONORC), the Centre’s ambitious plan to introduce the nationwide portability of ration cards under the NFSA.
Given the potential of the ONORC plan to ensure the access to NFSA foodgrains to migrant beneficiaries during the COVID-19 crisis, the food ministry “has been continuously pursuing with States/ UTs through video conference meetings/advisories/ letters etc to implement the programme to its full potential by proactively reaching out to the migrant beneficiaries, said an official statement.
Pandey also said ONORC has already been implemented in 32 states and UTs. He expects that the remaining four states and UTs — Assam, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Delhi — too would be implementing the scheme in the next few months.
Bihar, Rajashtan and Andhra Pradesh are the top-performing states in ONORC transactions.
(With PTI inputs)
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