Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a programme to provide free ration for over 80 crore people, mostly poor, by five more months till November end.

In a televised address to the nation, the PM said over Rs 90,000 crore will be spent on the programme’s extension, and if the last three months expenditure on account of the free ration scheme is added then the total budget will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19. He said the government had announced Rs 1.70 lakh crore package for the poor earlier, with Rs 31,000 crore transferred to 20 crore poor families under direct benefit transfer and Rs 18,000 crore given to nine crore farmers.

The Union government, he added, is also spending Rs 50,000 crore for providing employment to people in rural India.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana

In March 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against the impact of the pandemic.

The government offered free food grains and cash payment to women and poor senior citizens and farmers under the scheme.

PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana

PM Modi announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till the end of November 2020. 

During this five-month period, more than 80 crore people will be provided 5 kg free wheat/rice per month along with 1 kg free whole chana to each family per month. 

The Centre is bearing 100 per cent financial burden of approximately Rs 46,000 crore under this scheme. The government will spend more than Rs 90,000 crore towards the extension of the scheme. 

Wheat has been allocated to six states/UTs — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi and Gujarat and rice has been provided to the remaining states/UTs.

Under the PMGKAY, for the April-June period, a total of 116.34 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) food grains have been lifted by various states & UTs. 

In the month of April 2020, 37.06 LMT food grains were distributed to 74.12 crore beneficiaries. In May 2020, total 36.83 LMT food grains were distributed to 73.66 crore beneficiaries and in the month of June 2020, 29.64 LMT food grains were distributed to 59.29 crore beneficiaries. 

With the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic hitting employment across the country and millions of migrant labourers having returned to their native states, the extension of the free ration scheme is expected to provide succour to the poor.

Underscoring the enormity of the free ration scheme, Modi said it covers two and half times the population of the United States, 12 times the population of the United Kingdom and double the population of the European Union.

Other components of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana:

Atmanirbhar Bharat package for migrants

Under Atmanirbhar Bharat package, the government had decided that 8 LMT food grains will be provided to about 8 crore migrant labourers, stranded and needy families, who are not covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) or state scheme PDS cards. 

Each migrant was allotted 5 kg of food grain free of cost for the months of May and June. 

The states and UTs have lifted 6.39 LMT of food grains. States and UTs have distributed 1,06,141 MT of food grains to 1.21 crore beneficiaries in May and 91.29 lakh beneficiaries in June, 2020.

They are also given 1 kg of gram/dal per family for the month of May and June for free. This allocation of gram/dal was made according to the needs of the states. 

The government is bearing a financial burden of approximately Rs 3,109 crore for food grain and Rs 280 crore for gram under this scheme.

Insurance cover for health care workers

Amid rising number of COVID-19 cases, the government extended the Rs 50 lakh insurance scheme for over 22 lakh health care providers for another three months till September. The scheme implemented by New India Assurance was slated to end on June 30, as per the announcement made by Sitharaman as part of the Rs 1.70 lakh Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package in March. 

The insurance provides a comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to a total of around 22.12 lakh public health care providers, including community health workers, who may have to be in direct contact and care of patients suffering from coronavirus infection and who may be at risk of being impacted by this. The scheme is funded through the National Disaster Response Fund, operated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitation workers and a few others working in hospitals under the central and state governments will be covered under the insurance scheme.

Cash transfer

Sitharaman had announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 each to women Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account holders, for the next three months, under the PM Garib Kalyan Package. Under the scheme, a total of 20.40 crore PMJDY women account-holders receive an ex-gratia of Rs 500 per month for three months.

Free gas cylinders

Another component of the scheme was to provide three LPG cylinders (14.2 kg) free to over eight crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana(PMUY) over the period of April to June 2020.  

Payments under MGNREGA

The government had increased the rate of payment under MGNREGA for work with effect from April 1 to largely help migrant workers who are without work due to the lockdowns and suspension of business activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government increased MGNREGA wages by Rs 20 in this financial year that will provide additional benefit of Rs 2000 annually to a worker.

First instalment of PM-KISAN

The government had announced that the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to farmers due in 2020-21, covering 8.7 crore farmers, will be front-loaded and paid in April 2020 under PM Kisan yojana.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store