Centre makes Public Distribution System free for 810 million people
- IBEF
- December 26, 2022
The Union government has decided to provide free rations under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for around 810 million people for the next 12 months. This was done by merging some benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
It was announced that PMGKAY free-food programme will be stopped after 28 months as India’s economic situation has improved since the decline in COVID-19 cases and restrictions. This scheme was started in April 2020 and costed the government nearly US$ 47 billion. It provided poor families with five kilograms of food grains each month, along with the NFSA entitlement of five kilograms of food grains at subsidized rates.
Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, informed that NFSA covers 813.5 million beneficiaries and the free portion of PMGKAY has been added to NFSA.
The government was spending US$ 24.16 billion under NFSA to provide subsidised food grains to nearly 75% of rural and 50% of the urban areas, which gave entitlement to 67% of the population. The food subsidy bill for all phases of PMGKAY stands at US$ 40 billion (Rs. 3 trillion). US$ 20 billion will also be saved over the next 12 months by ending the free food programme and the centre can now sell 2-3 million tonnes in the open market to calm prices.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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