Centre’s free foodgrains for another three months, PM Garib Kalyan Yojana extended

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The central government has extended the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKY), which provides five kilos of free foodgrains to the poor every month, for another three months. This will be a relief to the common people of the states including Kerala.

On the 11th, Kerala Kaumudi had reported that the scheme would be extended based on the fact that various state governments had written to the Centre expressing concern. The states informed that if the scheme, which ends this month, was not extended, there would be a huge price hike. Meanwhile, Kerala has not sent a letter. 1,54,800,40 people belonging to AAY and priority category of the state will benefit from this.

The scheme was started in March 2020 due to Covid. The scheme of distributing five kilograms of grain for free to each member of the priority (pink and yellow) ration card was started for six months, but now it has been extended for the sixth time. With the availability of free foodgrains, 75% of the people in the priority category are not dependent on the public market, according to the Central Finance Department. 90% people buy freegrains every month.

Benefit for ration-shop owners

From March 2020, 7,74,002 quintals of grain are available per month for all the ration shops in the state. Rs 180 per quintal is needed as licensee's commission. Rs 13,93,203,60 is disbursed under this. There are a total of 14,149 ration shops.