Cabinet approves additional foodgrain under PM-GKAY
“The sanction of the additional food-grain free of cost to a maximum of 81.35 crore individuals… for five months would entail an estimated food subsidy of Rs 64,031 crore,” said an official statement issued after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by the PM.
DAYS AFTER Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PM-GKAY) till November, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved allocation of additional foodgrain for the scheme, which is aimed at providing 5 kg of free foodgrain per month to each beneficiary covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
“The sanction of the additional food-grain free of cost to a maximum of 81.35 crore individuals… for five months would entail an estimated food subsidy of Rs 64,031 crore,” said an official statement issued after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by the PM.
The statement said the total outgo in terms of foodgrains may be approximately 204 lakh metric tonnes. “Additional allocation will ameliorate the hardships faced by poor due to economic disruption caused by coronavirus. No poor family will suffer on account of non-availability of food-grains due to disruption in the next five months,” it said.
The PM-GKAY scheme was launched during the first wave of Covid-19 last year.
In a separate move on Wednesday, the Cabinet also approved “to merge and transfer all assets, liabilities, rights and obligations of Central Railside Warehouse Company Limited (CRWC), a Mini-Ratna Category-II Central Public Sector Enterprise incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 in 2007 with its holding enterprise Central Warehousing Corporation.
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