Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is a welfare scheme announced by the Government of India. It was launched in March 2020 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic in India by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

Under the Scheme it is proposed to distribute 9.7 Lakh MT cleaned whole Chana to States/UTs for distribution to all beneficiary households under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) @ 1kg per month free of cost under for next five months -July to November, 2020 at a total estimated cost of Rs.6,849.24 crore.

About 19.4 crore households would be covered under the Scheme.

All expenses on the extended PMGKAY are to be borne by the Central Government.

The distribution of pulses for the package emanated from robust availability of stock in the buffer which was set up in 2015-2016.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

The scheme was initially launched on 26 March 2020, when the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in the first address to the nation in the wake of Corona-19 pandemic announced Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.

Initially, the scheme was launched for a period from April—June 2020 covering a cost of ₹1.70 lakh crore (US$24 billion) to the exchequer.

The scheme was further extended up to November 2020 in an address to the nation by the Prime Minister of India.

By the end of May 2020, the government according to some estimates had reached 74 Crore beneficiaries under the scheme. Praising the scheme, a government official noted the coverage under the welfare scheme as “impressive”.