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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS. FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4328
TO BE ANSWERED ON 18T II MARCH, 2026
FOOD SECURITY AND PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA
4328. SHRI YOGENDER CHANDOLIA:
SMT. SMITA UDAY WAGH:
SHRI MADHAVANENI RAGHUNANDAN RAO:
SHRI SUKANTA KUMAR PANI(,RAHI:
SHRI RAJKUM AR CHAHAR:
SHRI BALABHADRA MAJHI:
SMT. SANJNA JATAV:
SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB
:
SHRI KOTA SRINIVASA POOJARY:
SHRI MAIIENDRA SINGH SOLANKY:
SHRI GOPAL JEE THAKUR:
SMT. ANITA NAGARSINGH CHOUHAN:
SHRI TEJASVI SURYA:
DR. RAJESH MISHRA:
Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC
DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has finalised the financial and expenditure roadmap for
extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) till the year 2029 and
if so, the details thereof, State and district-wise;
(b) the details of allocation of foodgrains and estimated beneficiaries particularly for
Maharashtra and Jalgaon district;
(c) the concrete steps being taken by the Government to ensure universal coverage by
bridging the gap between the 81.35 crore approved beneficiaries and the presently identified
80.6 core persons in the country especially in Nabarangpur and tribal regions of Odisha and
districts ofBharatpur Lok Sabha Constituency;
(d) the specific measures being taken to update the beneficiary list in the absence of
decennial census in line with recent judicial observations and including the role of States in
identification in the country, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh;
(e) whether the Government has completed the process of cent per cent Aadhaar seeding and
e-KYC for all active ration cards across the country by the deadline of February, 2026;
(f) if so, the details thereof including status especially in Maharashtra, Nabarangpur and tribal
areas of Odisha, Sidhi Lok Sabha Constituency and Dewas-Shajapur district of Madhya
Pradesh; and
(g) the details of corrective steps taken where targets are pending?ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS,
FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)
(a): The Central Government, in order to remove the financial burden of the poor beneficiaries
and to ensure nationwide uniformity had distributed food grains free of cost to beneficiaries i.e.
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households and Priority Households (PHII) beneficiaries, for a
period of one year beginning from lst January 2023 under the Pradhan Mantri Grib Kalyan Anna
Yojana (PMGKAY). The period for distribution of free of cost foodgrains has been extended for
further five years i.e. from lst January, 2024, with an estimated financial outlay of Rs. 11.80 lakh
crore totally to be borne by Central Government. At present, no proposal for extension of PMGKAY
beyond 3 1 December 2028 is under consideration of the Government.
(b): At present, number of beneficiaries receiving free of cost foodgrains in State of Maharashtra
and Jalgaon district is 6,76,61,974 and 27,69,746 respectively.
On the basis of identification of beneficiaries reported by the State Govt., 383766 MT of
foodgrains per month is being allocated to State of Maharashtra. District-wise allocation is being
made by the respective States/UTs.
(c) & (d): The Pradhan Mantri Grib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) provides for coverage upto
75% of rural population and upto 50% of urban population for receiving free of cost foodgrains under
Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about 67% of the bottom population
which at Census 2011 comes to 81.35 crore. Coverage under the Act is substantially high to ensure
that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit.
At present, against the intended coverage of 81.35 crore, the States/UTs have identified 79.40
crore person, which is about 97.60c3/6 of the intended coverage i.e. 81.35 crore persons. Still, there is
a scope of identification of 1 .95 crore more beneficiaries under the PMGKAY.
The Central Government has issued advisories to all the States/Union Territories including
to the States ofOdisha, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from time to time to identify all eligible and
poor persons/ households including vulnerable Sections of the Society for inclusion under the
NFS A. States undertake updation of their beneficiary database so that ineligible ration cards get
deleted and better targeting of rightful beneficiaries is ensured. Thus, deletion of ineligible
beneficiaries and addition of eligible beneficiaries under the Act is a continuous process.
(e) to (g): As part of the Government’s digital initiatives to enhance reach and effectiveness of the
Public Distribution System (PDS), the ration card/beneficiary database has been 100% digitisedacross all States and Union Territories, with 99.7% ration cards Aadhaar-seeded and 99.29/a
beneficiaries aadhaar seeded. As on 31.01.2026, e-KYC of 87.37% of the PDS beneficiaries have
been completed across the country.
All the ration cards in Odisha (including Nabarangpur and tribal areas) and Madhya Pradesh
(including Sidhi Constituency and Dewas-Shajapur district) have been Aadhaar Seeded. Further the
e-KYC of 97.10% PDS beneficiaries in State ofOdisha has been completed. Furthermore, e-KYC of
93.18 % PDS beneficiaries in State ofMadhya Pradesh has been completed.
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