81 crore individuals would receive free food Grains for a full year.
Beneficiary households that previously had to pay $1 for coarse grains, $2 for wheat, and $3 for rice per kg will now receive 35 kg of foodgrains gratis for the next 12 months, and others will receive 5 kg gratis each month through December 2023.
After the Cabinet meeting, Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal gave a brief explanation of the decision and stated that it was just another example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-poor stance. He claimed that the Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna of the Prime Minister has guaranteed 5 kg of free foodgrains for the underprivileged for 28 months.
“The government made another amazing choice with this one. According to Mr. Goyal, “The Prime Minister has decided to give free foodgrains for 81.35 crore individuals who are covered under the NFSA,” adding that the Centre will be responsible for all associated costs.
Even though the post-pandemic economic climate was normal, Mr. Goyal claimed that a decision had been made to combine the NFSA, PMGKAY, and Antyodaya Ann Yojana in order to make their benefits available to more people. The PMGKAY was set to expire on December 31, 2022 when it was first introduced in April 2020, during the lockdown.
The government has enough food grains in store, according to the Center, to support the charity programmes. In light of the economy, inflation, and unemployment, the Opposition has also been pleading with the government to distribute foodgrains for those in need. In addition, the BJP, which is in power, exploited the programmes as a talking point during the just-concluded Assembly elections.
For Copra, MSP
The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra for the season of 2023 was also agreed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is presided over by Mr. Modi. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices’ recommendations and the opinions of the major States that grow coconuts served as the foundation for the approval, according to the Centre.
Anurag Thakur, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, told reporters that the MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling copra and for ball copra for the 2023 season has been set at 10,860 and 11,750 respectively.
This is an increase over the previous season of 270 dollars per quintal for milling copra and 750 dollars per quintal for ball copra. This would provide a margin over the weighted average production cost for all of India of 51.82% for milling copra and 64.26% for ball copra.
The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. will continue to serve as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) for the Price Support Scheme (PSS) purchase of copra and de-husked coconut, according to a government release.