The free rations scheme is part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
New Delhi:
Up to 80 crore poor Indians will receive free rations till Diwali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today. This will be part of the extended Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.
“The government is with the poor during this pandemic. Over 80 crore of our population will get ration till November. Nobody should sleep hungry,” PM Modi said today during a national address.
It was in October 2020 that PM Modi first announced that India had been providing free ration worth about Rs 1.5 lakh crore to about 80 crore poor amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister today strongly defended his government’s vaccination policy and announced that the Centre would take back control of vaccination from states and provide free vaccines to all over the next two weeks.
India continued to improve its Covid count with the country today recording 1.06 lakh cases, a drop of 12 per cent from yesterday’s 1.14 lakh infections — the lowest in two months. The country’s caseload now stands at 2.89 crore.
The positivity rate, the number of positive cases identified per 100, has dropped to 6.33 per cent. India has been reporting positivity rate below 10 per cent for 14 consecutive days now.
Several states have announced cautious steps towards restarting activities after over a month following a dip in Covid cases. States like Haryana and Sikkim have announced that their Covid lockdowns will continue till June 14.