36 states, UTs lifted 31.80 LMT food grains so far under PMGKAY

All 36 states and union territories combinedly lifted 31.80 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of food grains from Food Corporation of India depots till May 17 under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

While 15 states and UTs; Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Tripura, have lifted 100 per cent May allocation, Lakshdeep lifted full allocation for both May and June, according to the Central government.

The Centre sensitised states and UTs to lift and distribute free food grains under PMGKAY in a time-bound manner.

Under this scheme, additional food grains, free of cost, at Rs 5 kg per person per month to around 79.39 crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) is being provided for a period of two months; May and June, the government said, adding that this allocation is in addition to regular NFSA allocation.

Earlier, the Centre had provided free food grains to NFSA beneficiaries under PMGKAY-I (April-June 2020) and PMGKAY-II (July-November 2020) under which 104 LMT wheat and 201 LMT rice, total 305 LMT foodgrains were successfully supplied by the FCI to the respective states/UTs government.

( With inputs from ANI )