Data released by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution has revealed that only 20.26 lakh of the total eight crore migrant labourers targeted by the Centre have received free food grains in May and June – during the coronavirus lockdown.
According to an India Today report, the states and union territories had lifted 4.42 lakh metric tonne of food grains, of which only 10,131 metric tonne grains were distributed among 20.26 lakh beneficiaries.
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The Ministry of Consumer Affairs informed: “The Government of India also approved 39,000 MT pulses for 1.96 crore migrant families. Around 28,306 MT gram/dal have been dispatched to the states and UTs. A total of 15,413 MT gram have been lifted by various states and UTs. But the state governments had distributed only 631 MT of pulses so far.”
As a part of the Rs 20 lakh crore Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deal with the consequences of the novel coronavirus outbreak, free food grains were promised to eight crore migrant labourers who are not beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) or any of the state-run PDS schemes.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that non-card holders will get five kilos of wheat or rice per person and one kilo of pulses per family, every month for the next two months. The Centre had earmarked Rs 3,500 crore for this scheme; of this, Rs 3,109 crore was meant for food grains and Rs 280 crores for pulses.
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