New Delhi, 5th July. Nearly 7 crore people of Maharashtra and 5.32 lakh people of Goa have benefitted by the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic during May- June 2021.
Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been at
the forefront of implementing the PMGKAY scheme and has already positioned
adequate stock of foodgrains in all states and union territories.
Briefing media persons in Mumbai today, Ms. K P Asha, General Manager, FCI, Maharashtra said 3.68 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and 2.57 lakh metric tonnes of rice have been distributed during May – June 2021. Under the scheme, 7 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains had been allocated for Maharashtra for the two-month period.
Shri R. P. Singh, Executive Director, West
Zone, FCI said “the Government has now extended the scheme for another five
months, and the Food Corporation of India has maintained sufficient
availability of foodgrains to meet the requirement. It already has 11.02
Lakh Metric Tonnes of Wheat and 6.65 Lakh Metric Tonnes of rice in stock, which
has been further supplemented by 2 lakh MT wheat and 1.5 lakh MT rice to ensure
uninterrupted supply in all the revenue districts of Maharashtra and Goa.”
Shri Singh further said that “due to timely
action taken by FCI, there was no disruption in supply chain management of
foodgrains, no complaints received from people, media or state administration.
Ample quantity of foodgrains were always made available in own or hired depots
of FCI”.
Shri Singh further elaborated that FCI has
been following all COVID-19 protocols like social distancing, wearing of masks
in offices and depots, hand hygiene and frequent sanitization of premises,
while handling foodgrain stocks.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi had on June 23rd approved the extension of PMGKAY scheme till
November, in a bid to lessen the hardship faced by the poor due to economic
disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is aimed at
benefitting 80 crore people across the country, distributing 5 kg of wheat or
rice per month. The move entails a financial implication of Rs. 67,266
crore. The additional free of cost allocation of food grains will
be over and above the regular monthly food grains allocated for beneificiaries
covered under NFSA.
The PMGKAY programme has won praise of the
World Food Programme of the United Nations for ensuring food security for the
poor during pandemic times. The WFP is reportedly keen on undertaking a
case study of the scheme so that other emerging economies could benefit from
its design and implementation.
For details of PMGKAY for the West Zone,
comprising Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Dadra
and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, please see Food Corporation of India press
release here.