Centre to spend additional Rs 1.45 lakh crore for free COVID vaccination & ration scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in his address to the Nation announced that from June 21 onwards all persons above the age of 18 years will be provided with free COVID-19 vaccines across the country and free ration will be provided to 80 crore poor till Diwali. The government will have to spend up to Rs 1.45 lakh crore additional money to provide free vaccines and foodgrains to people devastated by the deadly second wave of COVID infections, sources said on Tuesday. 

Govt to spend additional 1.45 lakh crore

• The free inoculation to all adults will entail total spending of anywhere between Rs 45,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore. This is higher than Rs 35,000 crore that the government had budgeted. 
• Extending 5 kg of wheat or rice and 1 kg of pulses every month to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries till November will cost between Rs 1.1 lakh crore to Rs 1.3 lakh crore.

After combining the total amount, the additional spending could be up to Rs 1.45 lakh crore, the sources said.

According to the sources, the government may have got enough buffer from the larger-than-expected Rs 99,122 crore dividend from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the windfall from record taxes on petrol and diesel. The two together may just be enough to fund the free vaccines and the food grain cost. However, the sources did not reveal how and from where the vaccines will be procured. 

COVID-19 Vaccination

India has so far administered over 23 crore doses of vaccines in the world's biggest inoculation programme, which began on January 16. In order to increase vaccine availability, PM Modi stated that the process of procuring vaccines from abroad has been sped up. At present India is using the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India, and another developed at home by Bharat Biotech. Russia's Sputnik V will be commercially launched in the country by the middle of this month.

PM Modi also announced the centralization of the vaccination drive in the country as he said all vaccines will be procured by the Government of India and given to States for free. 

Free Ration Scheme PMGKAY For 80 Cr People 

Prime Minister announced the extension of the free ration scheme for 80 crore people till the festive season of Diwali. Last year when the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in India, the Government had provided a free ration to 80 crore beneficiaries for 8 months under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. The Centre has been distributing monthly 5 kilograms of foodgrains per person at Rs 1-3 per kg via ration shops to over 80 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

For the current fiscal, the food subsidy is estimated at over Rs 2.42 lakh crore. The food subsidy rose sharply to over Rs 4.22 lakh crore in the RE (revised estimates) of 2020-21 from over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the BE (budget estimates).

(With PTI Inputs)

(Image Credits: ANI/PTI)