Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana: About the Scheme and Benefits

Introduction

Presidency Minister Garib Kalyan, Prime Minister’s Food Security Scheme for the Poor, or Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), is a food security welfare program introduced by the Indian government on March 26, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, along with Food, and Public Distribution oversee the program’s administration through the Food and Public Distribution Department. However, the Ministry of Finance is the nodal ministry.

This charity program is the world’s most extensive food security program due to its size. The program aims to feed India’s poorest residents by distributing grain to all priority households through the Public Distribution System (ration card holders and also those identified by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme). Each family with a ration card receives 1 kg of dal and 5 kg of rice or wheat (depending on regional dietary preferences) per person from PMGKAY.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was introduced in April 2020 and is still in operation today. Under this, recipients of Antyodaya and qualifying households receive 05 kg of food grains each unit. The program mentioned above will run until September 2022.

Overview

In his first address to the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the program as a component of the already-existing Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana welfare program, which served as the initial launch date for the program on March 26, 2020. The program was initially introduced from April through June 2020, costing the exchequer 1.70 lakh crore (US$21 billion).

Modi later extended the program to November 2020 in a speech to the country. According to the food ministry’s projection, 740 million people will have benefited from the program by the end of May 2020. A government official praised the program and said the welfare program’s coverage was “excellent.” In response to the plan, a different union minister stated: “This would ensure that no one sleeps hungry in the country.”

Ten states in the nation asked for a delay in the initiative’s deadline, which was set for the end of June 2020. In his sixth address to the country since the start of COVID-19 in India, Modi reaffirmed this. Modi announced the extension of PMGKAY till November 2020 in light of the forthcoming festival season in India, which the government thinks will help 800 million recipients. He also mentioned that the continuation of the scheme would cost an additional 90,000 crore (US$11 billion). The plan is the largest food security initiative in the world due to its size. The Financial Express quoted Modi as saying that the program “could feed 2.5 times the US population, also 12 times the UK population, and twice the population of the European Union.” In his remarks, Modi expressed gratitude to “stubborn taxpayers and industrious farmers” for the program’s success. Amit Shah, the Indian Home Minister, convened a meeting of the Group of Ministers shortly after Modi’s announcement to ensure the scheme’s successful execution.

Minister for Food Supplies Ram Vilas Paswan also remarked that another government flagship initiative, “One Nation – One Ration Card,” is being prepared and introduced in March 2021 in response to the state’s request for an extension of the food security program. The newly planned program is designed to help migratory workers access grain subsidies nationwide from any “fair price” stores.

The following Antyodaya Yojana eligibility requirements apply:  

• You must not own your land.
• Avoid holding a pucca home.
• Bull, tractor, and three buffaloes.
• Avoid taking a job that is set in stone.
• There shouldn’t be any farming, such as raising cows or chickens.
• There shouldn’t be any activities involving financial aid or financial aid that the government does not accept.
• There is no electrical connection.

It is evident from the preceding that only the Gram Panchayats with the lowest incomes will be qualified for Antyodaya ration cards.

Disqualifications from the eligible household program-

• Families in which at least one member pays income taxes or where the total yearly income of the entire family in urban areas is Rs. 03 lacks and in rural areas is Rs. 02 lacks.
• A tractor or four-wheeler should be available to the household.
• Installing a -AC with a generator of at least 05 kVA capacity is recommended.
• Have a firearms license.
• A residential unit with a carpet area of more than 100 square meters in an urban neighborhood or more than five acres of irrigated land in a rural location.

Beneficiary: 

Antyodaya/eligible household

Benefits:

Food supply for the hungry

How to Apply

Beneficiaries who meet the requirements can apply online at Jan Seva Kendra.

Distribution failure brought on by corruption at the local level.

As per the data provided by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution after PM Modi’s speech, corruption among food distributors and village council members prevented the majority of the free grain from reaching its intended users. In addition, 11 other states (Andhra Pradesh, 1 along with Gujarat, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and also Tripura) donated less than 1% of their allotted grain in April and May 2020. Goa and Telangana did not distribute any grain at all. In June 2020, no grain was distributed in six more states (Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Ladakh).

The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan, stated, “Some states do not provide grain to the underprivileged. I don’t get the issue with distribution when food grain is being given out for free because [we] have trouble getting it to the states. We are seriously considering this topic “. Sudhanshu Pandey, the food secretary, attributed the failure to distribute grains to a scarcity of foreign employees. Ranu Bhogal, the director of Oxfam India, cited corruption among farmers and village council members as the cause.

Success

According to research by the International Monetary Fund released on April 5, 2020, severe poverty (defined as having a PPP daily income of less than USD 1.9) in India was less than 1% in 2019 and remained at that level during the COVID-19 epidemic year 2020. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the food security program of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been essential in halting any rise in the extreme poverty levels in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent IMF research titled Pandemic, Poverty and Inequality: Evidence from India, estimates of poverty (severe poverty PPP USD 1.9 and PPP USD 3.2) and consumption inequality in India were provided for each year from 2004–2005 to the pandemic year 2020–21. These calculations consider the impact of food subsidies on poverty and inequality for the first time. Food transfers were crucial in ensuring that extreme poverty stayed at that low level in the pandemic year 2020, which was 0.8% in the pre-pandemic year 2019. At.294, post-food subsidy inequality is currently near its lowest level, 0.284, which was noted in 1993–1994. Extreme poverty may be deemed eliminated if it reaches a low point for two years in a row, one of which includes the pandemic. According to the IMF study, the PMGKAY was essential in preventing any rise in India’s extreme poverty levels, and the doubling of food entitlements had a significant positive impact on absorbing the income shocks brought on by COVID-19 that affected the poor. PM Modi had previously announced the prolongation of PMGKAY to September 2022. 

Free food grain is given to individuals in need under the PMGKAY. The program began in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic spread over the nation, and it was four months later, in November of last year, extended until March 2022. (December 2021-March 2022). The program involves giving each person 5 kg of other food per month over and beyond the NFSA-required amount. The National Food Security Act (NFSA) which is also [Antodaya Anna Yojana and Priority Households] beneficiaries, including those covered by Direct Benefit Transfer, are receiving the benefit (DBT). In response to the COVID-19 situation, the government announced in March 2020 that additional free foodgrains (rice/wheat) would be distributed to approximately 80 crore National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries. This was done to ensure that the vulnerable households would not suffer from inadequate food grains. The IMF assessment stated that a brief fiscal policy intervention was the fiscally acceptable method to absorb a significant portion of the shock and that the pandemic shock is primarily a transient income shock. Consumption growth, a critical factor in determining poverty, was higher in 2014–19 than during strong development from 2004–2011. 

Conclusion

Inequality, Poverty, and the Pandemic: Evidence from India. Global Financial Institutions. The article also looked closely at the integrity of the findings from the NSS consumer 

expenditure survey for 2017–18.