Assembly Elections: BJP’s free foodgrains for 80 crore vies for votes against Congress’ guarantees
While the 10 kg grains per person each month had brought windfall of electoral gains for the BJP in the Assembly elections till 2022, helping the saffron outfit win Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, the electoral efficacy of the scheme now giving half the grains – 5 kg – will be tested as the state government free from the burden of contributing own funds now has space to add-on, as seen in the Congress and the regional parties making promises of their own.
A BJP rally in Chhattisgarh
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, November 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday while on a campaign trail in Chhattisgarh announced extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna (PMGKAY) for another five years. The free foodgrain scheme under the National Food Security Act after PMGKAY was merged with it after a decision of the Union Cabinet on December 23 last year was expiring on December 31.
While the Opposition has largely maintained a silence over Modi announcing the decision in an election rally, the free ration scheme has emerged the main poll plank for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as PMGKAY had seen several extensions to give cover to Assembly elections. With the Congress riding high on cash-based guarantees, the BJP government at the Centre was expected to stick to the extension to the free ration scheme.
Addressing an election rally in Durg in Chhattisgarh, Modi said that while the free ration scheme under which each person in a family gets 5 kg of grains free of cost is ending in December, but “I will not let the poor go hungry and so the scheme would be extended for another five years”. The PMGKAY has been drummed up by the BJP as the Modi food scheme.
Former vice chairman of the NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya told in a podcast with Ananya Awasthi that the people for three years after the outbreak of the pandemic had been getting 10 kg of foodgrains per person almost free of cost as part of a much larger social security net in the country, which also include piped water supply, subsidised cooking gas, and other measures. While the people got 5 kg grains per person each month free under PMGKAY, they availed highly subsidised foodgrains under the National Food Security Act. The Union Cabinet in a decision on December 23, 2022 merged PMGKAY with the NFSA, which now ensures that a beneficiary will get 5 kg of grains and 10 kg earlier in two schemes. Last year, the annual cost after the merger of PMGKAY with NFSA was estimated at Rs 2 lakh crores annually.
The multidimensional poverty assessment had noted that 48 per cent of the people surveyed had reported difficulty in buying food for lack of money in 2021, which was 40 per cent in 2018. The findings of the survey underscored the importance of the free foodgrains scheme in election. While the BJP hopes to cash in on the coverage of the 80 crore people under the free ration scheme, the Congress had stumped the saffron outfit by hard selling 10-kg free rice scheme per person each family a month in Karnataka.
While the 10 kg grains per person each month had brought windfall of electoral gains for the BJP in the Assembly elections till 2022, helping the saffron outfit win Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, the electoral efficacy of the scheme now giving half the grains – 5 kg – will be tested as the state government free from the burden of contributing own funds now has space to add-on, as seen in the Congress and the regional parties making promises of their own.
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