New Delhi: The union cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Wednesday unanimously approved extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) – free food distribution scheme – for another four months from December 2021 to March 2022.
According to the official note released by the Press Information Bureau, the free food distribution scheme would entail an estimated food subsidy of Rs 53,344.52 crore and the total outgo of foodgrains during Phase V is expected to 163 LMT.
The note added that under this scheme, each beneficiary who is entitled under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) will be given 5 kg of food grains per person every month at free of cost till March, 2022.
Mr Modi had already announced this decision in his address to the nation on June 7, 2021 as part of the Economic Response to COVID -19 pandemic that has hit the nation since March 2020.
“Union government had launched this scheme in April 2020 in a phased manner and currently the fourth phase of this scheme is underway,” the note said.
The note also added that about 80 crore National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries at the scale of 5 Kg per person per month under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) would be directly benefited from this scheme.
Meanwhile the union government also decided to continue the ongoing National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) for another five years till 2026, under which around nine lakhs students, primarily graduates and diploma holders, will be trained by industry and commercial organisations.
The apprentices who have completed graduate and diploma programmes in Engineering, Humanities, Science and Commerce will be awarded stipends of Rs.9,000 and Rs.8,000 per month respectively.
“The union government has approved an expenditure of more than Rs. 3,000 crore during the next five years which is about 4.5 times the expenditure made during the previous 5 years. This increased expenditure on apprenticeship is in line with the thrust which National Education Policy 2020 has given to apprenticeship,” the PIB note said.
The note added that the NATS will provide apprenticeship in the emerging areas under ‘Production Linked Incentive’ (PLI) such as Mobile manufacturing, Medical devices manufacturing, Pharma sector, Electronics/Technology products, Automobile sector. “The scheme will also be preparing skilled manpower for connectivity/logistics industry sectors, identified under GatiShakti,” the note explained.
