Distribution of 5 kg foodgrain to poor under PMGKAY extended for 5 years: Anurag Thakur
About 81 crore people to benefit from the scheme’s extension; to cost ₹11.80 lakh crore
Union Minister Anurag Thakur briefing the media on Cabinet decisions at National Media Centre in New Delhi on November 29, 2023. | Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
The Union Cabinet on November 29 approved extension of PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) —launched during Covid to provide 5 kg of free foodgrain per month to around 80 crore poor people — for another five years from January 1, 2024. The scheme was last extended till December 31, 2023.
A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on November 28.
Giving details on November 29, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the PMGKAY has been extended for another five years from January 1, 2024. The Minister said the expenditure on scheme will be around ₹11.8 lakh crore during the next five years.
PMGKAY was introduced in 2020 as a pandemic relief measure, under which 5 kg of free foodgrain per beneficiary per month was provided in addition to the 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
In December 2022, as PMGKAY came to an end after multiple extensions, it was subsumed under the NFSA providing ration free for one year.
(With inputs from PTI)
