Under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana’ 55 crore beneficiaries in May and about 2.6 crore beneficiaries in June received the free food grains
Bengaluru: At a time when the nation is facing a tough time owing to the second wave of the coronavirus, the Indian government is doing its best to distribute grains to the beneficiaries.
Under the “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana” (PM-GKAY III), more than 63.67 Lakh MT food grains (i.e. around 80 % of total PMGKAY allocation for May & June 2021) have been lifted by States/UTs from FCI depot. Around 28 Lakh MT food grains have been distributed by 34 States/UTs to around 55 Crore NFSA beneficiaries for May 2021 and around 1.3 Lakh MT food grains have been distributed to around 2.6 Crore NFSA beneficiaries for June 2021, after following due COVID protocols.
And, under National Food Security act, food grains have been distributed to around 90% &12% of NFSA beneficiaries for May and June 2021, respectively, incurring a food subsidy of more than Rs 13,000 Crore for May and June 2021. The food subsidy incurred for PMGKAY, so far, is more than Rs. 9,200 Crore for May and June 2021.
Sudhanshu Pandey, secretary DFPD reiterated that people from most vulnerable & economically weaker sections of population like street dwellers, rag pickers, hawkers, rickshaw pullers, migrant labours etc under National Food Security Act is the foremost priority of this department.
Meanwhile, to sensitise and motivate people to follow covid protocols leading to a better society, the Maharashtra government has announced a covid-free village competition in which those villages which help in reducing case loads will be given cash prizes to the tune of lakhs.
At the same time, Karnataka has extended its lockdown till the 14th of June to ensure there is a drop in the number.
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