Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Sunday expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) for another six months.
Thakur said that this would cover nearly 80 crore beneficiaries across India and like before would be fully funded by the Government of India.
"The PM-GKAY has been under implementation since April 2020 as the largest food security program in the world. Centre has spent approximately Rs 2.60 lakh crore so far and another Rs 80,000 crore would be spent over the next six months till September 2022 taking the total expenditure under the scheme to nearly Rs 3.40 lakh crore," the chief minister said in an official statement.
He further said that under the extended PM-GKAY each beneficiary would get an additional 5 kg free ration per person per month in addition to his normal quota of food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
"Every poor household would get nearly double the normal quantity of ration," he added.
The Centre had in March 2020 announced the distribution of additional free-of-cost foodgrains (rice/wheat) to about 80 crores NFSA beneficiaries in the wake of the situation created by COVID-19 so that the vulnerable households do not suffer on account of the non-availability of adequate foodgrains.
The Union Cabinet on Saturday extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme for another six months – till September 2022 – with each beneficiary eligible to get an additional 5 kg free ration per month in addition to the normal quota of foodgrains under the NFSA. (ANI)
