Poll win a sign, UP extends free ration scheme for 3 months

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with deupty CMs Keshav Maurya and Brijesh Pathak at a press conference after first cabinet meeting at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow on saturday. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invoked the scheme in his speeches, reminding people of “Modi ka namak”. The Opposition had countered this by warning voters that the scheme, extended till Holi, would end soon after the polls. Saturday’s decision puts that fear to rest.

Announcing the extension, and calling it an example of the BJP’s “double-engine sarkar (at the state and Centre), Adityanath said: “The first decision of the newly formed Government in Uttar Pradesh is dedicated to 15 crore poor people. The scheme was to end in March 2022, thus the first Cabinet meeting of the new government has decided to extend its benefits for three months, till June 22.”

The extra cost to the state exchequer would be around Rs 3,000 crore for the three months.

The 3.16 crore ration cardholders in the state are covered under two schemes – the PMGKAY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna) and NFSA. While subsidised ration under the NFSA is an ongoing process, the PMGKAY was launched during the Covid lockdown, in April 2020, and entitles cardholders to 5 kg of wheat and rice and 1 kg of chana. On Saturday, the Centre announced the extension of the PMGKAY for a further six months. Under the NFSA, cardholders get 35 kg of food grains – 20 kg of wheat and 15 kg of rice – per month per card. Since the beneficiaries of both are almost the same, it effectively means people get ration twice a month – under the PMGKAY and then under the NFSA.

In December 2021, just ahead of the polls, UP had extended the benefits. Under the usual course, while ration was provided at a subsidised rate of Rs 3 per kg of wheat and Rs 2 per kg for rice, the Adityanath government made the entire subsidised ration under the NFSA free. It additionally announced provision of 1 lt of refined oil and 1 kg of salt per household.