Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for another six months till September 2022.
The scheme was kickstarted in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and it was extended till March 2022 in November last year for four months (December 2021-March 2022).
"The strength of India lies in the power of every citizen of the country. To further strengthen this power, the government has decided to continue the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for six more months till September 2022. More than 80 crore people of the country will be able to take advantage of this as before," PM Modi tweeted in Hindi.
The decision is significant as the Centre on Wednesday decided to withdraw all COVID-19 containment measures from March 31 due to declining nationwide fresh infections. The PMGKAY scheme was put in place due to the pandemic in the country.
The scheme entails providing 5 kg foodgrains per person per month, over and above the regular monthly NFSA foodgrains.
The benefit is being provided to those covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) [Antodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Households] including those covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
The government had in March 2020 announced the distribution of additional free-of-cost foodgrains (rice/wheat) to about 80 crore National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries in the wake of the situation created by COVID-19 so that the vulnerable households do not suffer on account of non-availability of adequate foodgrains.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor