About 759 lakh MT food grains provided to states, UTs under PMGKAY so far: Ministry

The Department of Food and Public Distribution allocated about 759 lakh MT foodgrains to states and union territories so far for distribution to around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY).

Under the PM-GKAY scheme (Phases I to V), the department had so far allocated a total of about 759 Lakh MT foodgrains to the States/UTs for distribution to around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries, free of cost, which is equivalent to about Rs 2.6 lakh crore in food subsidy, as per the press statement issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

"As per the phase-wise distribution reports available from the States/UTs, so far, a cumulative total of about 580 lakh MT foodgrains have been distributed to the beneficiaries," the statement read.

However, the distribution of free foodgrains under Phase-V is presently ongoing, it is anticipated that the distribution performance of the current phase shall also be on the same high level as achieved in the earlier phases.

The department is continuously monitoring the lifting and distribution of foodgrains by all States/UTs on a day-to-day basis, and so far, the distribution of the additional free-of-cost foodgrains under PM-GKAY to the NFSA beneficiaries in the country has been satisfactory, it said.

The best performing States/UTs with regard to Portable Transactions under PM-GKAY using One Nation One Ration (ONORC) facility are Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh recorded maximum number of Intra-State portability transactions for PMGKAY distribution during phases I to IV, it added.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country in March 2020, the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) had started the distribution of 'additional' and 'free-of-cost' foodgrains (rice or wheat) to around 80 Crore National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries in the country under the "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)".

It was started to ameliorate the food security hardships faced by the poor and needy due to unprecedented outbreak of the pandemic, lockdowns and thus the economic disruptions caused across the country.

( With inputs from ANI )

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