New Delhi: The Modi government gave the gift of happiness in the new year to more than 80 crore ration card holders of the country. The central government announced the distribution of free food grains in 2023 under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Earlier, from the year 2020 till now, the free ration was being distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). Since the Corona period, 81.3 crore people are getting this service free of cost.
Let us tell you that under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, even those people who did not have a ration card were getting rations free of cost. But, under the National Food Security Act, now only poor ration card holders will be given wheat and rice for free. The government started the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in April 2020. This scheme was started after the Corona transition and lockdown was implemented. There was talk of ending this scheme for the last several years, but the cabinet has decided to continue it for the time being. However, now this scheme has been merged with the Food Security Scheme. Under this, giving free ration will cost about two lakh crore rupees. The central government will bear the entire cost of this cost. Money will not be recovered from the states in this.
Free ration change in the new year?
Significantly, under the National Food Security Act, wheat, rice, and coarse grains are available at the rate of Rs 1 to Rs 3 per kg. But, the central government has said that even this amount will not be recovered from the consumers till December 2023. In the last 3 years, 7 phases of this scheme have been completed. First of all, in March 2020, it was implemented in the first phase for three months from April to June.
How much stock of food grains is in the country?
The Modi government has said that the Government of India has sufficient stock of food grains in the central pool to meet the requirements of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes and for additional allocation in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. About 159 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and 104 LMT of rice will be available on January 1, 2023.
Availability of food grains
The Government of India has ensured that the availability of food grains in the Central Pool remains adequate to meet the needs of all welfare schemes across the country and prices are also controlled. The central government has said that it is necessary to have 138 LMT wheat and 76 LMT rice in stock on January 1 of every year. This time it is more than that. The availability of about 180 LMT Wheat and 111 LMT Rice in the Central Pool was as of 15th December 2022. This is the reason why the government has decided to continue the scheme of distribution of free ration in the year 2023 as well.
Similarly, under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), all the beneficiaries, especially the migrant beneficiaries, are taking advantage of this scheme through the One Country One Ration Card (ONORC) system. All the beneficiaries can get their share of food grains from any Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) in the country by using their existing ration card or from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) with an Aadhaar number with biometric authentication.
