Free food grains to poor in May & June : Government of India

The Government of India recently announced that it will provide five kilo grams of free food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till June 2021 ,amidst the second wave of COVID-19 cases.The free food grains are being provided to those covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013. This is to continue till June 2021.

The prime minister stressed that it is important for the poor to get nutritional support at a time when the country is facing the second wave of the pandemic.Under this special scheme, around 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Householders will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost food grains (rice/wheat) at a scale of 5 kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA.

The Centre will spend Rs 26,000 crore under the scheme. The government had announced PM-GKAY in March last year when the first nationwide lockdown was imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in June, the scheme was extended till November.

States like Maharashtra and Delhi imposing lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, many migrants have started returning back to their hometowns and villages. Earlier this week when Delhi government announced a 6-day lockdown, thousands of daily wagers had crowded the Anand Vihar bus station to get a ride back to their homes. Similar situation was also seen at Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus after Maharashtra closed all factories and shops.

Around eighty crore beneficiaries are being provided with free food grains (rice or wheat) at a scale of 5 kg per person per month.This is over and above the monthly entitlements under the National Food Security Act. These are the beneficiaries that are covered under both Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Householders.

The extension of the scheme is to cost an additional Rs 26,000 crores. The Government of India has announced that it will bear all the expenditure. Also, the central assistance is to be provided to states and union territories on account of intrastate transportation.