Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at an election rally in Chhattisgarh that he would extend for another five years the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) — the scheme that provides free foodgrains to about 81.35 crore people — the Union Cabinet took a formal decision on Wednesday to continue the scheme from January 1, 2024. The scheme was to end on December 31. The Opposition had criticised Mr. Modi for making such an announcement without the Cabinet’s approval.
The Centre launched the PMGKAY in March, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and ended it in December 2022. From January 1, 2023, the PMGKAY had subsumed other schemes under the National Food Security Act such as the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) for one year. AAY card holders will get 35 kilogrammes of foodgrains per family per month and PHH scheme beneficiaries will get five kilogrammes per person per month.
