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The Union Cabinet extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) for another six months from April 1 on Saturday.
Earlier, State Governments such as the Uttar Pradesh Government had decided to extend the politically important scheme .
The Centre said the decision will help the poor and vulnerable as nearly ₹ 3.4 lakh crore is earmarked for the scheme and more than 1,000 LMT of free foodgrains will be provided under the scheme. This is the sixth phase of the scheme. The fifth phase of PM-GKAY scheme was to end on March 31. Started in April 2020, the scheme is vouched as the largest food security programme in the world.
A release issued after the Cabinet meeting said the Centre spent approximately ₹2.60 lakh crore so far, and another ₹80,000 crore will be spent over the next six months taking the total expenditure to nearly ₹ 3.40 lakh crore. “This will cover nearly 80 crore beneficiaries across India and like before would be fully funded by the Government of India,” the release added.
The States have lifted almost 95 per cent of the allocated foodgrains in the five phases of the scheme so far indicating the demand for the scheme among the States. The Centre said even though the pandemic has significantly abated and economic activities are gathering momentum, “extension of the scheme will ensure that no poor household goes to bed without food during this time of recovery.”
PM-GKAY Features
Each beneficiary will get additional five kilograms of free ration per person per month in addition to the normal quota of foodgrains under the National Food Security Act. The aggregate allocation of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY is about 1,003 LMT of foodgrains.
At the time of launch, the scheme had an insurance cover of ₹ 50 lakh for frontline health workers, five kg wheat or rice, and one kg of preferred pulses for free for 80 crore people, ₹ 500 for 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders, increase in MNREGA wage to ₹ 202 a day and an ex-gratia of ₹ 1,000 to three crore poor senior citizen, poor widows and poor disabled.
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