Ration Quota

The Congress on Tuesday alleged that the Modi government has reduced the ration of the 81 crore poor people by 50 percent in the new year. The opposition party said 81 crore Indians who were eligible for 10 kilograms of foodgrains will now get only five kilograms. "The year 2023 began with the depressing news that PM Modi's Cabinet has discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY), which provided an additional 5 kgs of food grains to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)," said AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh. He said with this sudden reduction of rations by 50 percent, the prime minister has taken this "regressive" decision with no consultation with state governments nor any discussion in Parliament. The Centre had undertaken the distribution of free food grains for 28 months under PMGKAY in view of the Covid pandemic but the scheme ended in December. However, the Cabinet has decided that subsidised foodgrains distributed to about 81.35

Extension of PMGKAY should have been avoided

"Today's Cabinet decision will benefit 80 crore Indians and is in line with our commitment of ensuring greater public welfare," Modi said on Twitter

The Centre will incur an additional expenditure of around Rs 53,344.52 crore because of the extension

Also exploring option of a minimum reserve price for traders based on production cost

The scheme will be known as 'Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Ration Yojna'

During his first-ever digital-only press conference, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal doubled the pension for widows, differently-abled and elderly for this month

According to the state Food and Civil Supplies minister, the move would affect over 62 lakh APL families in Kerala