The Right to Food Campaign on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to provide free ration to the poor but expressed concern that no polic...
The Right to Food Campaign on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to provide free ration to the poor but expressed concern that no policies were announced for people without ration cards or those who are additionally included by state governments through state schemes. It said that most migrant workers do not possess ration cards and, therefore, will not benefit from this scheme.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre would extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana till November this year, amid the economic distress caused by the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Under this scheme, all persons having a “priority” or Antyodaya Anna Yojana ration card under the National Food Security Act will receive additional 5 kg of food grain (rice or wheat) per person and each household with a ration card will get 1 kg pulses for free.
In a statement, the network of food activists said that while the move was “much needed”, most often, it is the poorest and most marginalised who are left out of the Public Distribution System because they do not possess the necessary documents.
“At a time like this, when foodgrain stocks are at a record high and people are facing the real possibility of hunger and...
