Delhi / Delhi govt extends free ration scheme by 6 months: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that his government is extending the free ration distribution scheme in the national capital by six months. His announcement came a day after the Centre said that there was no proposal to extend the supply of free foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY).

Further, the Delhi CM also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the scheme to the people in need by six more months, citing inflation and unemployment due to the pandemic.

“Delhi government is extending its free ration scheme for six months,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. “Inflation has become too high. Even the common man is finding it difficult to have bread for two times. Many are unemployed due to Corona. Prime Minister, please extend this scheme of giving free ration to the poor for six more months,” he further said.

Earlier on Friday, food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said that there was no proposal at present to extend the PM-GKAY scheme because of the economic recovery following the pandemic and also due to the good in the open market policy, according to a report by news agency PTI.

“Since the economy is also reviving and our OMSS (open market sale scheme) disposal of foodgrains has also been exceptionally good this year. So, there is no proposal to extend PMGKAY,” PTI quoted Pandey as saying.

The PM-GKAY plan was implemented following the advent of the pandemic in the country and the Centre is providing an additional 5kg of foodgrains per person per month, free of cost, to more than 80 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

While the plan to provide the additional benefit under the scheme was initially done for three months between April and June 2020, it was further extended for five more months until November 2020 due to continuing Covid-19 pandemic. During the second wave of the pandemic this year, the scheme was once again rolled out for two months from May to June 2021 and on June 7, 2021, Modi had announced that it would be extended till Diwali this year (November 4, 2021).

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh too has extended the scheme until the festival of Holi next year, CM Yogi Adityanath had announced on Wednesday (November 3).