Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna:
#GS II #Government Schemes and Interventions
Topic Government Schemes and Interventions
About:
- The PMGKAY initiative, part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), supports the disadvantaged in their fight against COVID-19.
- The initiative aimed to provide an additional 5 kg of free grains (rice or wheat) to each person covered by the National Food Security Act of 2013 on top of the 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain that was being distributed under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- 80 lakh ration card holders would be impacted over the course of three months, according to an earlier announcement (April, May, and June 2020). Later, the cutoff date was extended to September 2022.
- Its nodal Ministry is the Ministry of Finance.
- By transferring their benefits to any of the roughly 5 lakh ration shops throughout the nation, any migrant worker or ONORC programme recipient may benefit from the free ration.
- Cost: PMGKAY will have a total cost of Rs. 3.91 lakh crore for all stages.
- Challenges: The most recent census is used to identify who is eligible under the National Food Security Act (2011). Since that time, there are now more people who lack access to food.
Issues:
- Costly: The cost of maintaining it makes it more desirable for there to be an abundant supply of affordable grains. India was compelled to impose export limitations on wheat and rice as a result of a poor harvest in 2022 that put additional pressure on food prices and rattled the global agricultural markets due to unpredictably bad weather.
- Increasing the budget deficit could make it more difficult for the government to reach its target of keeping it at 6.4% of GDP.
- Inflation: The programme decision may have an effect on inflation. Rice and wheat prices are rising as a result of lower production driven on by a heatwave and a sporadic monsoon. About 10% of India’s retail inflation can be attributed to these two goods.
