Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana
Source: Hindu
GS II: Policies and Developmental Studies
What is discussed under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana?
- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY)
- Challenges
Why in News?
- The government extended by three months its programme to offer free food to the needy at a cost of over Rs 44,700 crore, as it aimed to relieve the suffering of high inflation.
- This was valid till September 30, 2022.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY)
About
- The government of India introduced a free rationing system known as the PMGKAY.
- The initiative is important for those who lost their employment because of the Covid-19 outbreak and who work in the informal economy.
- It supplied rice and wheat to 36 states and UTs through September 2022.
- It was begun earlier in 2020 with the goal of providing 5 kg of food grains to each person per month.
- The National Food Security Act (NFSA) benefits around 80 crore people.
Phases
- Phase I
Photo by Matthew Lakeland on Unsplash - When the scheme was first introduced in 2020-21, it was only accessible for three months April, May, and June 2020.
- Phase II
- The following phase lasted from July to November 2020.
- Phase III
- To deal with the aftermath of the epidemic, the government reinstated the free rationing system from May to June 2021.
- Phase IV
- And was extended for another five months till November 2021.
- Phase V
- Later in Phase V, the rationing programme was extended until March 2022, and then again until September 30, 2022.
- The entire spending has now surpassed Rs 3.40 lakh crore.
- The PMGKAY initiative provides these food grains at a heavily subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kilogramme.
- The government shall have spent a total of 1,000 lakh tonnes of free food grains under this plan by the end of Phase VI.
Challenges
- The beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act are determined by the most recent census (2011).
- Since then, the number of food-insecure people has risen, and they continue to go unnoticed.
- It is exceedingly costly for the government to support, which raises the demand for a plentiful supply of inexpensive grains.
- In 2022, India was forced to limit wheat and rice exports due to irregular weather, which pushed up food costs and shook global agricultural markets.
- It might threaten the government’s goal of further reducing the fiscal deficit to 6.4% of GDP.
- The program’s choice may have an impact on inflation.
- Rice and wheat prices are rising owing to poor output during a heatwave and patchy monsoon, which account for around 10% of India’s retail inflation.
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