The Congress on Wednesday announced fresh poll promises, more than halfway through the Lok Sabha elections. If voted into power, the Indian bloc would provide free rations of 10 kg to the poor every month, double the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s 5 kg plan.
There was no mention of free ration in the pre-election Congress manifesto and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s announcement surprised many party leaders.
Criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party for claiming credit for distributing free rations, Kharge said, “We enacted the Food Security Act so that if it was stopped, we could sue anyone. You gave nothing. But we are still talking about feeding 80 billion people. If you are giving ration of 5 kg, if our alliance government comes to power, we will give 10 kg,” said a Samajwadi in Lucknow. He said this at a press conference held jointly with party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Just a few days ago, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of making people “dependent” instead of “self-reliant” by giving them free food grains. Addressing a public meeting in Rae Bareli, Priyanka said, “This 5 kg ration will not fill anyone’s stomach. It is good to know, but it will not make us independent or have a brighter future.” If you ask young people whether they would rather have a 5kg ration or a job, they would choose a job because it gives them an income and makes them independent. Political parties that come up with policies that do not allow people to become self-reliant need to understand that their policies are incorrect.
However, Congress leaders interviewed by The Indian Express admitted that the Narendra Modi government’s free ration scheme is being talked about on the ground. In fact, at a rally in Jhansi on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi claimed credit for the free foodgrains scheme and said, “The free foodgrains distributed by Narendra Modi have their origins in the UPA government, i.e. food security.” It’s in the Guarantee Act.” This was our plan. When we return to form a government, we will distribute better rice and grain…even more and better than what they are doing. ”
Some leaders wondered whether Kharge’s announcement on Wednesday had been thought through. “I cannot comment on the Congress president’s statement,” P. Chidambaram said when asked if the proposal was discussed in the party’s manifesto committee, which he chairs. “It was not discussed, it was not considered,” one member of the committee told The Indian Express.
In April 2020, in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the central government launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan initiative, which aims to provide free food grains to 81.35 billion people under the National Food Security Act. – Launched Anna Yojana. Under this scheme, an additional amount of 5 kg of free food grains was provided to everyone in addition to the supplementary food grains entitlement provided by the NFSA. Under NFSA, the government is providing 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 decided to merge PMGKAY with NFSA and provide free food grains to NFSA beneficiaries as per their entitlement for one year from January 2023. However, the additional amount (5kg) that was provided under PMGKAY was discontinued. .
Prime Minister Modi, who was campaigning for assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in November, announced that the scheme would be extended for another five years. A few days later, the federal cabinet approved a five-year extension starting in January of this year. “The five-year food subsidy for distribution of food grains under PMGKAY will be approximately Rs. 11.8 billion. Therefore, the Center will spend approximately Rs. 1 billion to provide free food grains to eligible persons. To this end, 11.8 billion yen will be provided as food subsidy under PMGKAY over the next five years,” an official statement said.
© Indian Express Private Limited
Originally uploaded to: May 16, 2024, 07:00 IST
