State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) has so far supplied 69 lakh tonnes of foodgrians to states and union territories for free distribution under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), an official statement said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of the scheme (PMGKAY-III) till Diwali.
This means that till November 2021, more than 80 crore people will continue to get decided quantity of free foodgrain every month.
In April, the PMGKAY was announced for May and June to provide relief to the poor during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the Food Ministry on Tuesday said till June 7, FCI has supplied 69 lakh tonnes of free foodgrains to all 36 states/ UTs.
As many as 13 states/UTs — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Punjab, Telangana and Tripura — have lifted the full allocation for May-June 2021.
The ministry said 23 states/ UTs — Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal — have lifted 100 per cent May 2021 allocation.
Out of the seven North Eastern states, five — Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura — have lifted the full allocation of May-June 2021.
In Manipur and Assam, lifting of free foodgrains is in full swing and likely to be completed shortly.
“The Government of India will bear the entire cost on account of such distribution including food subsidy, intra-state transportation and dealer”s margin/ additional dealers margin, without any sharing by States/ UTs,” the statement said.
The Centre has asked all the states/ UTs to complete the distribution of free foodgrains under PMGKAY in time-bound manner.
Under the PMGKAY scheme, the Centre provides 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month free of cost to around 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
This is over and above the regular quota under the NFSA.
FCI is the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains.
It procures wheat and rice from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) to meet the foodgrains requirements under the NFSA and other welfare schemes. PTI
