As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till November, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has 816.60 lakh tonnes of foodgrains in its buffer stocks to meet the requirements under the scheme. The Centre needs only 200 lakh tonnes of food grains to continue the scheme till November to 81 crore beneficiaries.
According to the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs data, as per the FCI report dated June 28, FCI currently has 266.29 lakh tonnes of rice and 550.31 lakh tonnes of wheat. Hence, a total of 816.60 lakh tonnes of food grain stock is available (excluding the ongoing purchase of wheat and paddy, which have not yet reached the godown). The FCI has transported 277.73 lakh tonnes across the country since lockdown which was imposed on March 25.
Earlier, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), allocation of about 120 lakh tonnes of food grains was made between April and June. According to the ministry, a total of 116.02 lakh tonnes of food grains have been lifted. In the month of April 2020, 37.02 lakh tonnes (93 per cent) food grains have been distributed to 74.05 crore beneficiaries, in May 2020, total 36.49 lakh tonnes (91 per cent) food grains distributed to 72.99 crores beneficiaries and in the month of June 2020, 28.41 lakh tonnes (71 per cent) food grains have been distributed to 56.81 crores beneficiaries.
The existing National Food Security Act provides 5kg of foodgrain per person monthly at a subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg to the country’s poor. Under the PMGKY, the ration quota was enhanced by another 5 kg apart from one kg of grams for free for the next five months in June.
Under AtmaNirbhar Bharat package, the Centre decided to provide 8 lakh tonnes of foodgrains to about 8 crore migrant labourers, stranded and needy families, who are not covered under NFSA or State scheme PDS cards. "The states and union territories (UTs) have lifted 6.39 lakh tonnes of food grains. States and UTs have distributed 99,207 tonnes of food grains to total 209.96 lakh (in the May 120.08 lakh and in June 89.88 lakh) beneficiaries," the ministry said. The Government also approved 39,000 tonnes of pulses for 1.96 crore migrant families.
As regards pulses, the total requirement for the three months is 5.87 lakh tonnes. The Centre is bearing 100 per cent financial burden of about Rs 5,000 crore under this scheme.
So far, 5.79 lakh tonnes of pulses have been dispatched to states/UTs and 5.58 lakh tonnes have reached the states/UTs, while 4.40 lakh tonnes of pulses have been distributed.
On foodgrain procurement, the Centre said that as on June 28, 388.34 lakh tonnes of wheat and 745.66 lakh tonnes paddy were procured.
As on June 1, 2020, the ''One Nation One Card'' scheme is enabled in 20 states/UTs, namely - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Daman & Diu (Dadra and Nagar Haveli), Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Tripura.