NEW DELHI, Dec 23: The union government on Friday decided to extend by one more year the free foodgrain scheme under the National Food Security Act which was started during the pandemic.
The decision, essentially, is to subsume under the Act the current free-ration scheme — Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana — started in 2020 after Covid affected livelihoods, was to expire this month but the union cabinet at its meeting on Friday decided to extend it till December, 2023.
Under the scheme which covers about 81.35 crore people in the country, the beneficiaries will continue to get free foodgrains without needing to pay a single rupee till December 2023. Union minister Piyush Goyal announced that the government will spend around ₹2 lakh crore per year for this. Under the National Food Security Act, at present, rice is available at ₹ 3 a kg, wheat at ₹ 2, apart from other rations but the beneficiaries now would get the foodgrains free of cost.
(Manas Dasgupta)
