BHUBANESWAR: Following the Centre’s decision to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) till March 2022, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday directed distribution of additional five kg of rice per person free of cost to beneficiaries of the State Food Security scheme for four more months in view of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Each beneficiary of the scheme will get the additional rice till March 2022.
A release from the Chief Minister’s Office said that this will facilitate beneficiaries enrolled in the food security scheme to remain on par with beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act.
As many as 2,88,528 families comprising 9,15,532 persons covered under the scheme will be benefited.
For the purpose, 4,578 tonnes of rice will be supplied per month totalling 18,310.64 tonnes from the State pool with an expenditure of Rs 68.13 crore from the State’s own fund.
The Chief Minister had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 21 requesting him to continue additional allocation of rice under PMGKAY scheme for at least eight months.
The Centre subsequently extended it by four months.