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What is Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)?
The free food grain scheme or the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was introduced by the Narendra Modi government during the first nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 in March 2020.
Under this scheme, the center provides 5kg of free food grains per month to the poor. This is in addition to the subsidized (Rs 2-3 per kg) ration provided under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to families covered under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
PMGKAY caters free food grain, either rice or wheat, to over 80 crore beneficiaries of NSFA.
The scheme which can be availed through the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan was first introduced from April to June 2020 during the stringent lockdown in India and has been extended six times ever since. The latest extension was announced on 26 March and the scheme has been extended up to September 2022 at a cost of Rs 80,000 crore.
The latest extension requires the centre to allocate 24.4 million tonnes of wheat and rice for PMGKAY in addition to the usual allocation for NFSA.
The government said in a statement that it will spend around Rs 3.4 trillion in total on PMGKAY since its inception in April 2020 and has allocated almost 100.3 million tonnes of free foodgrains since the beginning of the scheme, which is in addition to the normal ration provided to each household.