News Excerpt:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the extension of the PM Garib Kalayan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme, which provides free foodgrains to over 80 crore poor people, for the next five years.

About the scheme:

• The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was launched in March 2020.
• The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
• PMGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat per person and 1 kg of dal to each family holding a ration card.
• In 2020, the Government of India announced the “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana” (PM-GKAY) for all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) as part of the pro-poor PM Garib Kalyan Package for the period April–November 2020. 
• Around 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries were allocated an additional 5 kg of foodgrains (wheat or rice) free of charge for a period of 8 months (April–November 2020), thereby ensuring the food security of poor, vulnerable beneficiaries and households in the wake of economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
• The scheme has been extended multiple times. Though it was initially meant for only three months, the government extended the scheme six times to provide the additional free foodgrain for 28 months.
• In December last year, the government announced the amalgamation of the PMGKAY scheme with the NFSA and made the earlier highly subsidized foodgrain completely free for the poor.

Economic burden of the scheme:

• Under PMGKAY, the government's annual expenditures on account of the food subsidy are estimated at Rs 2 lakh crore, and this is likely to increase in the next financial year due to a corresponding increase in the economic cost of foodgrain management by the Food Corporation's support price to farmers, storage, transportation, and other costs of rice and wheat.

Extension benefits and government focus:

• According to the government's scheme, PMGKAY is ending this December. The cabinet had approved the free foodgrain scheme for only one year (the calendar year of 2023), and now the PM's announcement puts to rest any speculation about the continuation of the scheme until 2028.
• PMGKAY's five-year extension will help the "pro-poor" platform.
• The government's focus is to ensure all beneficiaries of the world's biggest food security program get their entitlement.
• Under the One Nation One Ration Card, every migrant worker gets free 5kg foodgrains from any part of the country.
• Necessary steps have already been taken for smooth implementation of the PMGKAY in the field, i.e. necessary notification has been issued for making the price of foodgrains zero for AAY and PHH beneficiaries, resolution of technical issues at Fair Price Shops (FPS), advisory related to margin to the Fair Price Shop Dealers, zero prices in the print receipts given to beneficiaries, etc.