NEW DELHI: A study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has found that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s food security project ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)’ has been instrumental in preventing the increase in extreme poverty levels in India during the pandemic.

In 2019, the poverty rate in India was below one percent. The IMF report titled ‘Pandemic, Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from India’ stated that the PMGKAY was able to keep the poverty rates constant even amid the pandemic in 2020.

“PMGKAY was critical in preventing any increase in extreme poverty levels in India. It worked substantially in terms of absorbing the Covid-induced income shocks on the poor”, stated the report.

The PMGKAY was announced in the country on March 26, 2022. The project has been extended till September 2022, said the prime minister last month. Under this scheme, 5 kilogram rice or wheat and one kilogram of peas will be provided to families per month, on a priority basis, via ration shops. This is the largest food security project in the world.