States so far distribute 61% of April quota under Garib Kalyan Yojana

Andhra, Bihar, Kerala, UP distribute more than 90% of the month's allocation to the poor

State governments have distributed around 61 per cent of the free foodgrains meant for the month of April under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana till May 5, according of data captured by electronic Point-of-Sale (e-PoS) devices.

Within the states too, there has been wide disparity with some like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh distributing more than 90 per cent of the April month’s quota of free ration, while others like Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand have lagged.

Under the Garib Kalyan Scheme, states have been allocated 4.04 million tonnes of food grains per month for free for April, May and June, totalling around 12.1 million tonnes. This is over and above the usual allocation under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Of this, according to an official statement, so far (till May 05) around 6.76 million tonnes have been lifted by the states from Food Corporation of India's warehouses.

Out of which till today, around 2.48 million tonnes have been distributed as April month’s quota of free grains, while 0.80 million tonnes have been distributed as quota for the month of May, while 66,633 tonnes have been distributed as June month’s quota (in total around 3.35 million tonnes) as per the data captured by e-PoS machines. In April, more than 94 per cent of the total ration grains went through the e-PoS machines across India.

Under the Garib Kalyan Scheme, the Central government is distributing an extra 5 kilograms of wheat or rice per person free for three months starting from April 2020 to over 80 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act. This additional allocation is over and above their regular monthly allocation of 5 kilograms per person.

The 12.1 million tonnes of free grains for three months under the Garib Kalyan Yojana, includes 10.44 million tonnes is rice and 1.56 million tonnes of wheat.

Wheat has been allocated to the six states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi and Gujarat while rice has been allocated for the rest.

Under the Public Distribution System (PDS), Central government and FCI is responsible for delivering the ration to the state warehouses and from there it is the responsibility of the states to transport it to ration shops and thereafter ensure its delivery to the final beneficiaries.

In case of Delhi, a report by social group Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikaar Abhiyaan based on visit to 61 of the over 2000 ration shops in the city between May 1 and 04 showed that 34 per cent of the sample shops were closed while in some of the remaining open ration shops card holders were given less than the eligible quantity of foodgrains by the show owner.