Government to provide 5 kg free food grains to poor in May & June
The government on Friday announced to provide 5 kg free food grains to the poor for May and June 2021. This will cover nearly 80 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Each beneficiary under NFSA will get 5 kg per person per month for the next two months and this will be over and above their entitlement of 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse grains at Rs 3, 2 and Re 1 per kg respectively.
The government said this will be rolled out on the same pattern as last year’s PM Garib Kalyan Yojana. The Centre would spend more than Rs 26,000 crore on this initiative.
Amid surging Covid-19 cases across the country, three states Rajasthan, Kerala and Uttrakhand had recently urged the centre to restart distribution of free food grains to 81 crore poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY).
Four MPs including NCP chief and former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar have also sought the re-run of the scheme which was launched last year during the first wave of the pandemic.
Under PMGKAY, the Centre distributed 5 kg rice or wheat per person and one kg of pulses per family to all those covered under the National Food Security Act. This covered the April- November period of 2020 and had come as a big relief to the poor families across the country.
