Govt extends 5-kg free ration scheme till March 2022; to cost exchequer Rs 53,344 cr
Covid-19: The Central Government has decided to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free ration till March 2022, says Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Wednesday.
Addressing the media here, Anurag Thakur said at the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "It has been decided to extend the 'PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana' to provide free ration till March 2022."
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The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is a food security welfare scheme that was envisaged by the Prime Minister to provide assistance and help mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19. Under the PMGKAY, 5 kg of additional food grain, per person, is given to all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act.
Free foodgrains under the PMGKAY scheme is over and above the normal quota provided under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg.
This will cost an additional Rs 53,344 crore to the exchequer, he said, adding that the total cost of the PMGKAY would reach about Rs 2.6 lakh crore, including all five phases of this ongoing programme.
In the wake of economic disruptions caused by the unprecedented outbreak of Covid-19 in the country last year, the government had in March 2020 announced the distribution of additional free-of-cost foodgrains (rice/wheat) to about 80 crore the National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries.
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The Phase-I and Phase-II of this scheme were operational from April to June 2020 and July to November 2020, respectively. The Phase-III of the scheme was operational from May to June 2021, while Phase-IV of the scheme is currently operational for July-November, 2021.
“The PMGKAY scheme for Phase V from December 2021 till March 2022 would entail an estimated additional food subsidy of Rs 53,344.52 crore,” an official statement said. The total outgo in terms of foodgrains for PMGKAY Phase V is likely to be about 163 lakh tonne.
So far, under the PM-GKAY (phase I to IV), the Centre has allocated a total of almost 600 lakh tonnes of foodgrains to the states/UTs, equivalent to about Rs 2.07 lakh crore in food subsidy. “Overall, the government will be incurring an expenditure of nearly Rs.2.60 lakh crore in PMGKAY Phase I- V,” the statement said.
-PTC News with input agencies
