Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey has informed that so far nearly 50.38 Lakh Metric Tonnes of foodgrains have been distributed under the 5th phase of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY). In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Choubey said that around 80 Crore beneficiaries in the country covered under the National
Food Security Act (NFSA) are eligible to receive additional free of cost food grains at the scale of 5 Kg per person per month. It is over and above their monthly NFSA food grains. He said, for the implementation of PM-GKAY scheme since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the Department had allocated a total of about 759 Lakh Metric Tonnes food grains to the States and UTs equivalent to nearly 2.6 lakh crore rupees in food subsidy.