Midway elections, Congress chief takes party by surprise, says will double ration for poor to 10 kg

Criticising the BJP for claiming credit for distributing free ration, Kharge said, “We brought the food security Act where anyone could go to court if it was stopped. You gave nothing, but still talk about feeding 80 crore people. If you are giving 5 kg ration, when our alliance government comes to power, we will give 10 kg,” he said in a press conference held jointly with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.

Just days ago, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP of making people “dependent” and not  “independent” by handing them over free foodgrains. Addressing a public meeting in Rae Bareli, Priyanka  said, “This 5 kg ration would not fill anyone’s stomachs. It’s good you get it, but this will not make you self-reliant or brighten your future. When I ask the youth what they would prefer, 5 kg ration or a job, you will choose a job, right? Because a job will earn you income, and make you self-reliant. So you have to understand that a political party framing policies that make you dependent and not self-reliant, its policy is not right.”

But Congress leaders The Indian Express spoke with admitted that the free ration scheme of the Narendra Modi government is being talked about on the ground. In fact, claiming credit for the free foodgrains scheme, Rahul Gandhi had at a rally in Jhansi on Tuesday said, “The free foodgrains distributed by Narendra Modi has its origins in the UPA government — the food security Act. This was our scheme. When we return to form the government, we will distribute better rice, and foodgrains… more and better than what they do.”

Some leaders wondered if Kharge’s announcement on Wednesday was thought through. “I cannot comment on the Congress president’s statement,” said P Chidambaram, when asked if the party’s manifesto committee chaired by him had discussed the proposal while. “It was not discussed and never considered,” one member of the panel told The Indian Express.

The Central government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which aims to provide free food grains to 81.35 crore people under the National Food Security Act, in April 2020 in the wake of the Covid outbreak. Under the scheme, an additional quantity of 5 kg of free food grains was provided to every person on top of their NFSA entitlement of subsidised food grains. Under the NFSA, the government provides rice at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg and coarse grains at Rs 1 per kg.

In December 2022, the government merged the PMGKAY with the NFSA and decided to provide free food grains to NFSA beneficiaries as per their entitlement for a year beginning January 2023. But it discontinued the additional quantity (5 kg) that was being provided under the PMGKAY.

Campaigning for the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in November, Prime Minister Modi announced extension of the scheme for five more years. Days later, the Union Cabinet cleared the extension for five years beginning January this year. “The approximate food subsidy for five years for distribution of food grains under PMGKAY will be to the tune of Rs. 11.80 lakh crore. Thus, the Centre will spend approx. Rs. 11.80 lakh crore during the period of next five years as food subsidy under PMGKAY, to provide free food grains to the targeted population,” an official statement had said.