The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its report has praised the food security scheme of the Narendra Modi government i.e. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). It has said that the scheme averted an increase in extreme poverty during the Corona pandemic. A new IMF paper found that extreme poverty in India (PPP $1.9 per person per day) in 2019 is less than one percent. It remained at that level during 2020 as well.
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— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s food security scheme i.e. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana has been instrumental in preventing any increase in the level of extreme poverty in India, the report said.
Let us tell you that this new IMF report includes for the first time the impact of food subsidies on poverty and inequality. Extreme poverty was as low as 0.8 percent in 2019, the year before the pandemic. Food security for the poor was instrumental in ensuring that it remains at that low level in the pandemic-hit 2020. The low level of extreme poverty in two consecutive years can be considered as the eradication of extreme poverty.
The IMF report said that PMGKAY was the key to halting any increase in the level of extreme poverty in India. This worked to a large extent in mitigating the shock of reduced income due to COVID-19 on the poor. Let us tell you that in the meantime PM Modi has announced the extension of PMGKAY till September 2022. Under PMGKAY, free food grains are provided to the needy people.
The scheme was launched in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. It was extended for four months (December 2021 to March 2022) in November last year till March 2022. Under this scheme 5 kg of food grains are provided free of cost per person per month.
The government had announced the distribution of additional free food grains (rice/wheat) in March 2020 to around 80 crore National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries. The IMF report said that the shock of the pandemic is largely a temporary income shock.