PM Narendra Modi interacts with the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, in Gujarat, through video conference, in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the scope and budget of cheap ration schemes have increased since independence, but its impact on the poor has been limited due to ineffective distribution system and selfish elements.
After virtual interaction with the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) in Gujarat, Modi said that over the years, food storage kept increasing, but starvation and malnutrition did not decrease in that proportion.
PM-GKAY Food Security Scheme is helping lakhs of poor people during the coronavirus pandemic, Modi said. He said that under this scheme free ration is being distributed to lakhs of families and it has helped in alleviating the concerns of the poor during the pandemic.
Modi said the government used new technology to make the food distribution system more effective for the poor.
“After independence, almost every government had talked about providing cheap food to the poor. The scope and budget of cheap ration schemes increased year after year, but its effect should have been limited. The country’s foodgrain stock increased, but hunger and Malnutrition did not decrease in that proportion,” he said.
“Some disease came into the system, some selfish elements entered. To change this situation, after 2014, a new way of work started, and to remove crores of fake beneficiaries and linking of ration card with aadhar card and encouragement. The help of new technology was taken for digital technology in government fair price shops,” he said.
Modi said empowerment of the poor is the top priority of his government. “Today the country is spending lakhs of crores on infrastructure, but at the same time setting new benchmarks to improve the quality of life of the common man,” he said.
He said that the government is trying to provide all possible help to the citizens during the pandemic.
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