The Union Cabinet in its meeting on Saturday decided to extend their scheme providing free ration to people for six months until 30 September.?

Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, the government distributes 5 kilograms of ration per person free of cost per month. The scheme has over 80 crore beneficiaries.

The scheme was introduced to assist people in economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. All expenditure in the procurement and distribution of ration is borne by the government.??

The scheme was part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, announced in 2020, which along with other welfare measures cost Rs 1.7 lakh crore at the time. Besides free ration, it included:

• Insurance cover of Rs 50 Lakh per health worker fighting COVID-19
• Rs 500 per month for three months for 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders?
• Increase in MNREGA wage to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182 to benefit 13.62 crore families
• An ex-gratia of Rs 1,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizen, poor widows and poor disabled