The Uttar Pradesh government has established a technologically robust public distribution system with an automated supply chain management and Aadhaar seeding of around 100 per cent of the NFSA (National Food Security Act) ration cards in the state.
Maintaining a high level of transparency in the distribution of PDS food grains even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state has so far distributed food grains worth Rs 34,456 crore under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). About 35.95 lakh metric tons of food grains were distributed in the fourth phase of PMGKAY between July and November, 2021 to over 15 crore beneficiaries, which is worth Rs 11,096 crore.
The state has faced the COVID-19 pandemic with resilience and a spirit of self-reliance that is evident from the fact that since lockdown the Central and the Uttar Pradesh governments have assured that no one will sleep hungry. The PMGKAY was first introduced during the first wave of COVID19 in 2020 for eight months to provide relief to 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the NFSA from pandemic-induced economic hardships.
The prime minister himself has lauded the efforts of the UP government for implementing the schemes made for the poor, downtrodden, backward and tribal’s. The first phase of the scheme was launched from April to June, 2020 and the second from July to November, 2020. Later, during the second COVID-19 wave, the third phase was launched from May to June, 2021, which was further continued for another five months as the fourth phase from July to November, 2021.
Food Commissioner Saurabh Babu said that during the third phase of PMGKAY, about 96.1 per cent of the allocated food grains were distributed to beneficiaries. The state was allocated about 14.71 lakh MT food grains with a subsidy layout of Rs 4,438 crore for distribution during the two months of May and June 2021.
In view of the hardships faced by the people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to extend the scheme and the fifth phase would be implemented from December, 2021 to March 2022.
Stating that distribution of free grains under the fifth phase of PMGKAY was about to begin, Babu said that the scheme would continue till March 2022 and it was a massive intervention by the government to support the people during the ongoing pandemic.
“The allocation of Phase-V for Uttar Pradesh would be about 29.43 lakh metric tons, a subsidy layout of about Rs. 8,877 crore,” he said.
In an effort to provide assistance and help mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the poor, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the next phase of the ‘biggest campaign’ of free ration distribution, other than PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) on Sunday.