PMGKAY Scheme
PMGKAY-Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
Widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more or single women or single men with no family or societal support or assured means of subsistence.
Benefits
During the period May – June 2021, more than 80 crore people will be provided 5 kg free wheat / rice per person / month along with 1 kg free whole chana to each family per month. Wheat has been allocated to 6 States / UTs, – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi and Gujarat and rice has been provided to the remaining States / UTs. This is over and above the regular monthly entitlements under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
Eligibility
- Families belonging to the Below Poverty Line – Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) categories will be eligible for the scheme.
- PHH are to be identified by State Governments / Union Territory Administrations as per criteria evolved by them. AAY families are to be identified by States / UTs as per the criteria prescribed by the Central Government:
- Households headed by widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support.
- Widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more or single women or single men with no family or societal support or assured means of subsistence.
- All primitive tribal households.
- Landless agriculture labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans / craftsmen such as potters, tanners, weavers, blacksmiths, carpenters, slum dwellers, and persons earning their livelihood on daily basis in the informal sector like porters, coolies, rickshaw pullers, hand cart pullers, fruit and flower sellers, snake charmers, rag pickers, cobblers, destitutes and other similar categories in both rural and urban areas.
- All eligible Below Poverty Line families of HIV positive persons.
PMGKAY operations speed up all across the country
31 States/ UTs lift 100% free foodgrains for May 2021 under PMGKAY
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Telangana lift full allocation for May-June 2021
Food Corporation of India supplies 48 LMT free food grains to all 36 States/ UTs under PMGKAY
During May 2021, FCI loaded total 1062 rakes i.e. average 44 rakes per day
FCI issued total 1062 LMT foodgrains under various Government schemes since March, 2020
The scheme of free distribution of foodgrains to the beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), has provided a big relief to the beneficiaries during ongoing COVID pandemic period.
Till 24th May, 2021, FCI has supplied 48 LMT free foodgrains to all 36 States/ UTs. 5 States/ UTs i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Telangana have lifted full allocation for May-June 2021. 26 States/ UTs i.e. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Daman Diu D&NH, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal have lifted 100% May, 2021 allocation.
To ensure smooth supply of foodgrains in the country, FCI has planned the logistics in advance. Against the lifting of allocated stocks, the same are replenished on regular basis thus maintaining adequate foodgrains in all the States/ UTs, all the time. During May 2021, FCI has already loaded 1062 rakes i.e. average 44 rakes per day. At present, 295 LMT wheat and 597 LMT rice (total 892 LMT) foodgrains are available under the Central Pool.
During the COVID pandemic period, since 25th March, 2020, FCI has issued total 1062 LMT foodgrains under various Government schemes.
As a pro poor initiative, under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), Government of India is distributing free foodgrains for a period of two months (May-June 2021) @ 5kg per person per month to approx. 79.39 crore beneficiaries covered under NFSA. This allocation is in addition to regular NFSA allocation and 79.39 LMT foodgrains have to be issued under the said scheme.
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Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) for another 6 months (April-September, 2022)
Move to benefit poor and vulnerable
Nearly Rs 3.4 lakh crore of financial outlay & more than 1,000 LMT of free foodgrains provided under PMGKAY
In keeping with the concern and sensitivity towards poor and vulnerable sections of society,the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme for another six months i.e., till September 2022 (Phase VI).
The Phase-V of PM-GKAY scheme was to end in March 2022. It may be recalled that the PM-GKAY has been under implementation since April 2020, as the largest food security program in the world.
The Government has spent approximately Rs. 2.60 Lakh Crore so far and another Rs. 80,000 Crore will be spent over the next 6 months till September 2022 taking the total expenditure under PM-GKAY to nearly Rs. 3.40 Lakh Crore.
This will cover nearly 80 crore beneficiaries across India and like before would be fully funded by the Government of India.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly abated and economic activities are gathering momentum, this PM-GKAY extension would ensure that no poor household goes to bed without food during this time of recovery.
Under the extended PM-GKAY each beneficiary will get additional 5 kg free ration per person per month in addition to his normal quota of foodgrains under the NFSA. This means that every poor household would get nearly double the normal quantity of ration.
It is worth highlighting that the Government had allocated about 759 LMT of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY till Phase V. With another 244 LMT of free foodgrains under this extension (Phase VI), the aggregate allocation of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY now stand at 1,003 LMT of foodgrains.
The benefit of free ration can be availed through portability by any migrant labour or beneficiary under One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) plan from nearly 5 lakh ration shops across the country. So far, over 61 Crore portability transactions have benefitted the beneficiaries away from their homes.
This has been made possible due to highest ever procurement despite the century’s worst pandemic with highest ever payment to farmers by the Government. For this record production in the agricultural fields Indian Farmers –‘Annadata’ deserves to be complimented.
Source: PIB