Solution

The Union Cabinet has approved the extension for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY-Phase VII) for a further period of 3 months i.e. October to December 2022. Under this welfare scheme, 5 kg of food grain per person per month is provided free of cost for all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) [Antodaya Anna Yojana & Priority Households] including those covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Financial implication for the Government of India has been about Rs. 3.45 Lakh Crore upto Phase-VI of PMGKAY. With the additional expenditure of about Rs. 44,762 Crore for Phase-VII of this scheme, the overall expenditure of PMGKAY will be about Rs. 3.91 lakh crore for all the phases. The total outgo in terms of food grains for PMGKAY Phase VII is likely to be about 122 LMT. The aggregate allocation of food grain for phases I- VII is about 1121 LMT. PMGKY has been in operation for 25 months as under: Phase I and II ( 8 months) : April’20 to Nov.’20 Phase-III to V (11 months) : May’21 to March’22 Phase-VI ( 6 months) : April’22 to Sept.’22 PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY), started during the difficult time of COVID-19 crisis, has provided food security to the poor, needy and the vulnerable households/beneficiaries so that they do not suffer on account of non-availability of adequate foodgrains.