The Central government on Friday said it will provide free-of-cost food grains to the poor in May and June under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. 5 kg free food grains per person per month would be given to around 80 crore beneficiaries for the two months, said the govt.
"In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the poor, the Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 kg per person per month to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)," a government release said.
"Under this special scheme (PMGKAY), around 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries 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," it added.
The release further stated that the government will bear all expenditure of over Rs 26,000 crore on account of food subsidy and Central assistance to states/UTs on account of intrastate transportation, etc.
