Centre makes ration free for 1 year, move to benefit 81.35 crore poor

The move will cost around Rs 2 lakh crore, which will be borne by the Centre

The Centre on Friday announced that it will provide free foodgrains to 81.35 crore people for one year under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

In a major pro-poor move, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to give foodgrains free of cost for one year to the poor till December 2023 under NFSA. A total of 81.35 crore people would benefit from the decision and it would cost around Rs 2 lakh crore to the exchequer, Food Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

Under the NFSA Act, foodgrains is allocated at 5 kg per person per month for priority households category and at 35 kg per family per month for Antodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) families at highly subsidised prices of Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg for coarse cereals, wheat and rice, respectively.

Meanwhile, the government decided not to extend the free ration scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which ends on December 31.

Prime Minister Modi launched the PMGKAY in April 2020 to provide relief to the poor during the Covid-19 pandemic. On the PMGKAY, Goyal said the government had provided free foodgrain (5 kg per person per month) for 28 months.

Goyal further said the additional foodgrain under the PMGKAY, which was started during Covid because of financial stress of poor people, is not needed now.

"Financial conditions have now become normal. Still, to provide relief to the poor, the government has made foodgrain under NFSA free of cost," the food minister said.

The Centre enacted NFSA in July 2013, giving legal entitlement to 67 per cent of the population (75 per cent in rural areas and 50 per cent in urban areas) to receive highly subsidised foodgrain.