As per Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the government will cover the estimated Rs 2 lakh crore cost of making rations free under the National Food Security Act.
New Delhi: The Union Government has made a significant decision to provide free rations to 81.35 crore poor people for one year under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
As per Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the government will cover the estimated Rs 2 lakh crore cost of making rations free under the National Food Security Act.
The NFSA Act’s recipients currently pay between 1-3 per kilogramme. According to the Act, foodgrain allocations for priority households are 5 kg per person per month and 35 kg per family per month for Antodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) families, respectively, at heavily discounted prices of ₹1, 2, and 3 per kg for coarse cereals, wheat, and rice. But the recipients of the programme would receive a free ration from the government starting in 2023. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) comet to expire on December 31, 2022.
Under PMGKAY, 81.35 crore NFSA beneficiaries receive five kilogrammes of ration per person per month for free. This is in addition to the monthly distribution of heavily subsidised food grains under the NFSA.
Food Minister Piyush Goyal informed media of the Union Cabinet’s decision and stated that the Centre will be responsible for delivering all free food grains under the NFSA. There will be no fees for the recipients to receive food grains, They said.
More than 80 crore people will now get free foodgrains under National Food Security Act. They will not have to pay a single rupee to get food grains til Dec 2023. Govt will spend around Rs 2 lakh crores per year on this: Union Minister Piyush Goyal pic.twitter.com/ze89jBIB6u
— ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2022
During the Covid epidemic in 2020, the PMGKAY was introduced, and as part of it, the Centre provided 5 kg of food grain free of cost to people falling under the NFSA quota. The Centre has now merged the PMGKAY scheme with the NFSA.
In July 2013, the Center passed the NFSA, granting 67% of the population (with 75% of people living in rural areas and 50% in urban areas) the legal right to obtain heavily subsidised food grain.
Recently, Food minister Piyush Goyal, informed the house that the government had given the states and UTs a total of about 1,118 lakh tonnes of foodgrains under the PMGKAY (total allocation from Phase I to Phase VII). The total sanctioned outlay for food subsidy and central assistance for all phases I-VII is about ₹3.91 lakh crore, he said.
Remarkably, government officials referred to the latest Cabinet decision as a “new year gift for the country’s poor” and stated that the Act will now deliver free rations to over 80 crore people.
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