Free Ration Given to 81 crore Beneficiaries of NFSA under PMGKAY says Ram Vilas Paswan

During the lockdown in Corona crisis, the government has given free ration for 3 months to all 81 crore beneficiaries of National food security Act (NFSA) under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) and 2 months ration to 8 crore migrants and other needy under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan economic package (Self-reliant India Mission), tweeted Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. 

Paswan shared a video on Twitter showing how various farmers and labourers get benefit from such scheme and he even thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for such relief package during the lockdown.  

Apart from this over 42 crores, poor people have received financial assistance worth Rs 65,454 crore as on June 19, under the Rs 1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package, according to the data from Ministry of Finance. The amount is marginally up from Rs 53,248 crore, disclosed by the government earlier this month. The government had earlier announced free food grains and cash payment to women and poor senior citizens and farmers under the scheme. The biggest chunk of the amount of Rs 30,952 crore has been credited to 61.9 crore women Jan Dhan account holders in three instalments. Moreover, Rs 17,891 crore was front-loaded for payment of the first instalment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) to 8.94 crore beneficiaries. 

The Finance Ministry also said that 8.52 crore cylinders under the PM Ujjawala Yojana are delivered during April and May 2020 while 2.1 crore cylinders are booked for June 2020 out of which 1.87 crore cylinders are delivered to beneficiaries. 

The government announced the ‘One nation, One ration card’ scheme amid the Covid-19 crisis to address food security challenges. The scheme is expected to benefit 67 crore people in 23 states by August 2020 and all eligible beneficiaries pan-India by March 2021. 

It includes Free distribution of 5 kg food grains per person and one kg of pulses per household under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana for next three months to 80 crore poor beneficiaries covered under National food security Act (NFSA) to ensure availability food to poor people during lockdown due to COVID-19.