Extension of PMGKAY sign of economic distress: Congress
NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Modi announced the extension of the free food grain scheme—Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for five years, Congress hit out at the government saying that it is an indication of the continuing high level of economic distress and growing inequalities.
In a statement, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “The PM’s latest announcement is an indication of the continuing high level of economic distress and growing inequalities. For the vast majority of Indians, incomes have not grown in line with the sky-high prices of essential commodities.”
The PMGKAY scheme, which was to end on December 31, 2023, will now continue till December 2028. The PM’s announcement that the scheme that aids 80 crore poor, will be extended, came during an election campaign in Chhattisgarh’s Durg on Saturday. “I have decided that the BJP government will extend the scheme of providing free rations to 80 crore poor people in the country for the next five years. Your love and blessings always give me the strength to make sacred decisions,” said Modi.
Reminding the PM that the National Food Security Act (NFSA) was passed by Parliament in 2013 during the UPA government, Ramesh pointed out that the PMGKY is nothing but the NFSA that already covered 80 crore Indians. “The Prime Minister has announced that the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) will be extended by another five years. It bears to recall that as Gujarat CM, he had consistently opposed the National Food Security Act passed by Parliament in September 2013,” he wrote.
Under the NFSA, all ration cardholders were entitled to five kg of food grain per person. “This of course is not the only example of a U-turn done by him. On MGNREGA too, which proved to be a lifesaver during the pandemic, he was forced to shift his position,” he pointed out. Another opposition party, TMC, also wrote to the Election Commission, “The timing and stage of the announcement — at a BJP poll rally — clearly shows that it is an attempt by the party in power to influence the electorate ahead of the elections and to defeat the idea of a level playing field.”
During Covid-19, the government introduced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in April 2020 to provide an additional 5 kg of free foodgrains to every ration cardholder, in addition to the entitlement of 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains under the NFSA. However, in December 2022, the government decided to discontinue the PMGKAY, saying that the economic situation has improved since COVID-19 cases and restrictions have eased. In January 2023, to counterbalance the termination of PMGKAY, the government announced a free ration to 81.35 crore people under the National Food Security Act for one year. After the termination of PMGKAY, Congress asked the PM to use the money it would save to strengthen food security for the poorest.
Experts were also critical that the government’s decision to roll out free rations for a year from January 1, was a token gesture aimed at sweetening the pill. Many pointed out that until now, the NFSA cardholders were entitled to 5 kg of foodgrain per person per month at `2 per kg for wheat and `3 per kg for rice.