The central government has extended the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY), offering an extra 5 kg of free ration to 800 million families, by another six months. The scheme will cost the central exchequer an additional £8 billion.
The decision came weeks after the scheme turned out to be a key element of BJP’s electoral success in Uttar Pradesh. Several government functionaries had suggested that the scheme should be discontinued as economic activity was back to pre-pandemic levels. But the Union cabinet decided that the intervention was still needed.
“Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly abated and economic activities are gathering momentum, the extension of this scheme would ensure that no poor household goes to bed without food during this time of recovery,” an official statement said.
The Centre’s decision came along with Uttar Pradesh extending a similar state government-run scheme by three months.
Since the lockdown was imposed two years ago, the Union government has so far spent close to £26 billion in providing additional foodgrains for free, where offtake has picked up after the Centre nudged the states to implement the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme that allows beneficiaries to access their quota anywhere in the country. Under the extended PM-GKAY, each beneficiary will get an additional 5 kg free ration per person every month, doubling his monthly quota.
