NEW DELHI: In a move to bolster food security for the poor impacted by a Covid-induced economic slowdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended the scheme to provide five kg foodgrains and one kg of pulses for free to 80 crore beneficiaries for another five months.
During a national broadcast, Modi said the five-month extension will cost around Rs 90,000 crore, taking the overall cost to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Poor families are entitled to 5 kg grains every month under the National Food Security Programme and the government is topping up the entitlement with a matching quantity, with pulses thrown in, at no charge. The other elements of the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, however, ended on Tuesday.
The decision was also seen as an early start to the campaign for Bihar elections due later this year, a state which has a large number of migrant workers who would be beneficiaries. The politically competitive e