Govt extends free ration scheme by 3 months

The government on Wednesday extended by three months its programme to provide free rations to the poor at a cost of over Rs 44,700 crore, as it looked to ease pain from high inflation and make political gains in the upcoming Gujarat election.

The scheme to provide 5 kg of wheat and rice free of cost to 80 crores poor every month, which was ending on Friday, will now run through December 31, 2022, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was started in April 2020 to help the poor whose livelihoods were shuttered by a nationwide lockdown aimed at containing the spread of the Coronavirus.