Know All About "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana"

Recently, thirteen states have started distributing foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY).

The scheme has been rolled out again for two months (May and June 2021) as the country’s healthcare infrastructure has reached its capacity and several states have taken steps like complete lockdown, night curfew to contain the spread of the disease.
THIRTEEN STATES have started distributing foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), which is aimed at providing free additional 5 kg foodgrains per month to beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act over and above their monthly entitlement for two months, May and June, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said.
The ministry also said that out of a total monthly allocation of 39.69 lakh metric tonnes (MT) under the PMGKAY, 15.55 lakh MT have been lifted by states and 1.01 lakh MT have been distributed to 2.03 crore beneficiaries till May 10.

PMGKAY is a part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor fight the battle against Covid-19.
Its nodal Ministry is the Ministry of Finance.
It was initially announced for a three month period (April, May and June 2020), covering 80 crore ration cardholders. Later it was extended till November 2020.
However in April 2021, the government had announced its decision to restart the PMGKAY.
The scheme aimed at providing each person who is covered under the National Food Security Act 2013 with an additional 5 kg grains (wheat or rice) for free, in addition to the 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain already provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
The new version of the PMGKAY lacks one of its important components which was there in 2020 PMGKAY i:e free-of-cost 1 kg pulses per month to each household covered under the NFSA.

The PMGKAY was first announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the government’s Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package under “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against coronavirus” on March 26 last year. Initially, the scheme was for three months — May, June and July – but later it was extended till November 2020.
The Centre had also launched a separate scheme to provide free 5 kg foodgrain per person per month to stranded migrants for two months. However, the ministry has ruled out possibility of a similar scheme this time.
According to the ministry, all states and union territories except four — Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and West Bengal — have implemented the One Nation, One Ration card scheme.

To address the grim state of food security in the country and combat the problem of hunger, the government has started the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ facility.
Currently, this scheme is applicable in several states and the central government seeks to implement this across the nation by June 2020.

Interoperability of Ration Card: Under the ONORC, the beneficiaries from one state can get their share of rations in other states where the ration card was originally issued.
- After the scheme gets implemented at the national level, any PDS recipient can use their ration cards at any PDS shop across the country.
- ONORC seeks to provide universal access to PDS food grains for migrant workers.
Empowering Consumers: ONORC will also give the beneficiaries the opportunity to opt for the dealer of their choice. If any dealer misbehaves or misallocates, the beneficiary can switch to another FPS shop instantly.
Reducing Social Discrimination: ONORC will be particularly beneficial for women and other disadvantaged groups, given how social identity (caste, class and gender) and other contextual factors (including power relations) provide a strong backdrop in accessing PDS.
Achieving SDG: This will help achieve the target set under SDG 2: Ending hunger by 2030. Also, it will address the poor state of hunger in India, as highlighted by the Global Hunger Index, where India has been ranked 102 out of 117 countries.

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