NEW DELHI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government decided on Wednesday to extend a free ration scheme for the country's needy people for three more months.
"The cabinet under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister has approved to grant an extension to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (Prime Minister's Food Security Scheme for the Poor) for another three months," Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said.
"More than 800 million people benefited because of this and in the next three months around 122 lakh (12.2 million) metric tonnes of food grains will be given to these 800 million people," he said.
The scheme started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Under the scheme, 5 kg of free food grains were provided to beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The scheme was originally scheduled to end on Sept. 30.
Political observers said the scheme has helped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) repeat the victory in local elections in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year and the decision to extend it further might have been taken in view of the upcoming local elections scheduled in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. ■
