The government has embarked on a massive exercise to distribute free pulses to 19.5 crore households under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), reports Economic Times.
Under the programme, all the beneficiary ration cardholders will receive a kilogram of free pulses per month for three months till June. The exercise is being undertaken as a part of the Rs 1.7 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY).
It should be noted that around 1.08 lakh tonnes of pulses have already been issued to the states and union territories (UTs), and the distribution has already beginning in some of the states. These include Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Gujarat.
States like Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have already received partial stocks of pulses and are set to begin the distribution exercise in a phased manner.
It should be noted that PM-GKY was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman towards the end of March to provide relief to the poor and vulnerable sections during the period of nationwide lockdown due to Coronavirus pandemic.
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