Govt to provide 5 kg extra food grains free to 800 mn in May and June

Scheme on the lines of PMGKAY-1 will cost the exchequer addl Rs 26,000 crore in FY22

With the second Covid-19 wave once again rendering millions of poor jobless and triggering another exodus of migrants, the Central government today decided to distribute 5 kg grains free of cost to all the 800 million beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act over and above their regular quota in May and June 2021.

The scheme which will be along the lines of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) launched during the first Covid wave last year, will cost the Centre Rs 26,000 crore in subsidies over and above its usual PDS subsidy bill of Rs 1.8 trillion