PM-GKAY Flashcards
ABT
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) is a scheme as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat to supply free food grains to migrants and poor.
What is PM-GKAY
Considered as world’s largest food security scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana aims at ensuring sufficient food for the poor and needy during the coronavirus crisis.
It was announced as part of the first relief package during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of the scheme, the food needs to be provided to all the beneficiaries under public distribution system (TPDS) for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and priority household (PHH) ration cardholders.
As per updates, the eligible beneficiaries will receive 5kg of foodgrains and 1 kg Gram per month.
ORIGIN
announced by the Government of India on March 26 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
OVERVIEW
The scheme was initially launched on 26 March 2020 with an announcement by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who announced the program as part of the existing Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana welfare initiative in his first address to the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the scheme was launched for the period from April—June 2020, with a cost of ₹1.70 lakh crore (US$21 billion) to the exchequer.
The scheme was further extended to November 2020 in a later address to the nation by Modi. By the end of May 2020, the food ministry estimated that the program had reached 740 million beneficiaries. Praising the program, a government official noted the coverage under the welfare scheme as “impressive”. Another union minister commented on the scheme, saying: “This will ensure no one sleeps hungry in the country…
ONORC
In response to the states’ request for an extension of the food security program, Minister for Food Supplies Ram Vilas Paswan further commented that another flagship scheme of the government, “One Nation - One Ration Card”, is being planned and scheduled to be launched in March 2021. The new proposed scheme is devised to cater especially to migrant laborers to help them receive subsidized grain from any “fair price” shops across the country.
Failure of distribution due to corruption at ground level
Data released after PM Modi’s speech from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution revealed that most of the free grain failed to be distributed to intended recipients due to corruption among food dealers and village council members. Both Goa and Telangana distributed no grain at all with a further 11 (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Tripura) distributing less than 1% of their allocated amount in April and May 2020. A further six (Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Ladakh) also distributed zero grain in June 2020.
Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said that “Some states are not distributing grain to the poor. [We] have problem in providing foodgrain to states, so when it is being given free, I don’t understand the problem in distribution. We are taking this issue seriously”. The Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey blamed a lack of migrant workers for the failure to distribute grains. The director of Oxfam India, Ranu Bhogal, blamed corruption among food dealers and village council members.
Success
The scale of the scheme makes it the biggest food security program in the world. Reporting on Modi’s speech, the Financial Express claimed the scheme “could feed 2.5 times the US population, 12 times the UK population, and twice the European Union’s population”.[8] Modi thanked the “hardworking farmers and honest taxpayers” in his speech for the success of the scheme. Immediately after Modi’s announcement, the Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, called a meeting of the Group of Ministers to ensure the smooth implementation of the scheme.
Extension
The government on September 28 extended by three months its programme to provide free rations to the poor at a cost of over ₹44,700 crore, as it looked to ease pain from high inflation and make political gains in the upcoming Gujarat election.
The scheme to provide 5 kg of wheat and rice free of cost to 80 crore poor every month, which was ending on Friday, will now run through December 31, 2022, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was started in April 2020 to help the poor whose livelihoods were shuttered by a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.
