Rs 17,793 cr released under PM-KISAN helped 8.89 cr farmer families amid lockdown: MoA

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Tuesday in a statement said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme during the coronavirus lockdown period imposed on March 24 till date, about 8.89 crore farmer families have been benefited. The statement added that so far an amount of Rs 17,793 crores has been released so far. 

PMGKY to benefit around 19.50 crore households

In order to provide food security during the prevailing situation due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has decided to distribute pulses to the eligible households under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY). The statement said, over 1.07 lakh metric tonnes pulses have so far been issued to the States and Union Territories. It said that the distribution of pulses under PMGKY is to benefit around 19.50 crore household spread across 36 States and Union territories.

Under PMGKY, the States/UTs namely Andaman and Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat have commenced the distribution of pulses to the beneficiaries. Other states like Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi have received the partial stock and will commence the distribution to the beneficiaries in a phased manner as per their plan.

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According to official data, the government has a total of 58.49 million tonnes of foodgrains in the FCI godowns. Out of this, rice is 30.97 million tonnes and wheat 27.52 million tonnes. The foodgrains stock is much higher than the required norm of maintaining a reserve of about 21 million tonnes as on April 1.

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Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the government is supplying 5 kg of foodgrains per month to over 80 crore people at a highly subsidised price of Rs 2-3 per kg. That apart, the Centre has decided to distribute 5 kg of foodgrains per person free of cost for the next three months to provide relief to poor people during the ongoing lockdown period.

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The total number of Coronavirus positive cases in India on Monday rose to 17,656, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of these, 14,255 patients are active cases and 2,842 cases have been cured or discharged and migrated. The COVID-19 toll now stands at 559.

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(with PTI inputs)