New Delhi: Gearing up for the state polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been reportedly giving a lot of freebies and gifts to the people of the state. With the assembly elections just months away, he has now decided to hand out free ration to the people, similar to what PM Modi started when COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation. Under Yogi's scheme, 35 kg of wheat or rice would be given free of cost to each of the 'Antyodaya Anna Yojana' Family Card Holders, along with 1kg of pulses, 1 litre of edible oil, 1kg of sugar and 1kg of salt.
In a statement made from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "The previous state governments were known for pardoning terrorists and rioters and also for honoring them by inviting them to the CM residence. But our government is doing the right thing by sending them to the place where they belong." He added, "As soon as one got a government job, their families would start duping people on the promise of jobs in exchange for money. Money used to change hands but people never got jobs as courts would issue 'stay orders' after the incident of defrauding was exposed. In the last four and a half years, 4.5 million people have got jobs that no one can question."
Free ration to be available under PMGKAY till November 30th
The Central Government is scheduled to stop distributing free ration under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) after November 30. Currently, the government has no plans to extend the term of the scheme beyond its current deadline. According to Union Food Secretary, Sudhanshu Pandey, "In view of economical improvement and growith in sale of food grains in the open market under the OMSS Policy (Open Market Sale Scheme Policy), it is proposed not to extend free ration distribution through PMGKAY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna) beyond its current deadline of November 30."
In view of the economic shock caused due to the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Central Government had launched PMGKAY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana) to provide free food grains to Indians. Although the scheme was initially introduced for the period between April and June 2020, it was later extended to November 30, 2020. However, after the second wave of COVID-19 hit the nation this year, the plan was again extended until May and June of this year. However, the Central Government later decided to extend the scheme for another five months, that is July to November 2021.