Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will interact with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in Gujarat today via video conferencing. "At 12:30 PM tomorrow, August 3, I will interact with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in Gujarat. It would be wonderful to hear their views and experiences," PM Modi tweeted on Monday.
Public participation program is being launched in Gujarat to create further awareness about the Centre's scheme. CM Vijay Rupani and Deputy CM of Gujarat Nitinbhai Patel will also be present at the occasion.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is a food security welfare scheme that was envisaged by the Prime Minister to provide assistance and help mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. This welfare scheme was announced by the Centre in March last year. Under PMGKAY, five kilos of rice or wheat and one kilo of pulses are given additionally for free every month to all beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act.
The scheme is operated by the department of food and public distribution under the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
The Centre informed Parliament in July that around 278 lakh metric tonnes of food grains had been provided to nearly 80 crore National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries under PMGKAY. This was given for a period of seven months from May to November 2021.
Earlier in June, the United Nation's World Food Programme praised Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana as a notable step to combat hunger by any developing country during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
