**Executive Summary**
This document is a response to Unstarred Question No. 1622 in the Lok Sabha, scheduled to be answered on December 10th, 2025, regarding nutritional diversification under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). The response addresses whether the government proposes to include pulses, coarse grains, and other nutritious foods in the PMGKAY grain basket and the status of fortified rice distribution across various States/UTs. Currently, no proposal for inclusion of more commodities is under consideration.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Inclusion of New Commodities:**
* No proposal for the inclusion of more commodities under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is currently under consideration by the Government.
* **Fortified Rice Distribution:**
* The Government is supplying fortified rice under the 'Rice Fortification Initiative' through PMGKAY and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) in all States and Union Territories (UTs) including Jharkhand.
* Fortified rice is not distributed under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab (wheat-consuming states) and Chandigarh and Puducherry (100% DBT UTs).
* In October 2024, the Cabinet approved the continuation of the Rice Fortification Initiative across the country until December 2028, fully funded by the Government.
* **National Food Security Act, 2013 Provisions:**
* The National Food Security Act, 2013, provides food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food free of cost.
* Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children aged 6 months to 14 years are entitled to meals with prescribed nutritional norms under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and PM-POSHAN schemes.
* Higher nutritional norms are prescribed for malnourished children up to 6 years of age.
* The Government has revised the nutritional norms specified in Schedule-II of the Act, vide notification dated 25.01.2023 to improve nutritional standards for targeted beneficiaries.
* **PMGKAY Implementation:**
* The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is being implemented in all the States/UTs including Sidhi Parliamentary Constituency in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
**Impact Analysis**
**Key Stakeholders:** Beneficiaries of PMGKAY and NFSA.
**Impact:**
* The document clarifies that no changes are planned regarding the variety of commodities provided under PMGKAY. The current focus is on rice fortification.
**Action Required:**
* No immediate action is required from beneficiaries. They will continue to receive foodgrains (rice, wheat, or coarse grains) as per existing provisions.
* States/UTs need to continue to implement PMGKAY and the Rice Fortification Initiative as per existing guidelines.
Key Entities Referenced
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY): A scheme under which the Government provides food grains; the policy discusses diversifying the nutritional content of the grain basket under this scheme.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution: The primary ministry responsible for the policy discussion.
National Food Security Act, 2013: Act providing food and nutritional security, referenced for its provisions related to foodgrain distribution and nutritional norms.
Jharkhand: One of the states specifically mentioned regarding the distribution of fortified rice under the PMGKAY.
Sidhi Lok Sabha Constituency: Specific location where the implementation status of PMGKAY is being asked.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1622
TO BE ANSWERED ON 10TH DECEMBER, 2025
NUTRITIONAL DIVERSIFICATION UNDER PMGKAY
1622. DR. K SUDHAKAR:
DR. RAJESH MISHRA:
SHRI DULU MA[IATO
:
SMT. SMITA UDAY WAGH:
SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:
SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:
SHRI ALOK SHARMA:
SHRI NAB A CHARAN MAJHI:
SHRI NALIN SOREN:
Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS. FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be
pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government proposes to include pulses, coarse grains and other nutritious food
items in the grain basket under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yoj ana (PMGKAY);
(b) whether fortified rice (or other fortified cereals) are being supplied under the said scheme
across various States including Jharkhand;
(C) if so, the status thereof across various States/UTs;
(d) whether the Government has conducted or proposes to conduct any study to evaluate the
nutritional adequacy of the current grain basket;
(e) if not, the reasons behind non strengthening of the nutritional dimension;
(f) whether any proposals are under consideration to strengthen PMGKAYs nutritional
dimension in future phases and if so, the details thereof; and
(g) the details/status of implementation of the said scheme in Sidhi Lok Sabha Constituency?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS,
FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)
(a): The Public Distribution System is now governed as per the provisions of the Pradhan
Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). Under the NFS A, the term “foodgrains” is defined
as rice, wheat or coarse grains or any combination thereof conforming to such quality norms as
may be determined, by order, by the Central Government from time to time.
At present, no proposal for inclusion of more commodities under the scheme is under
consideration of the Government(b) & (c): The Government of India is supplying fortified rice under ’Rice Fortification Initiative'
through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and Other Welfare Schemes
(C)WS) in all States and Union Territories (UTs) including Jharkhand. Since Rajasthan, Haryana
and Punjab are wheat-consuming states; and Chandigarh, Puducherry are 100% DBT UTs, the
fortified rice is not distributed in these States/UTs under the Public Distribution System (PDS). In
October 2024, the Cabinet approved the continuation of this initiative across the country as the
Central Sector Initiative (fully funded by the Government) up to December 2028.
(d) to (f): The National Food Security Act, 2013 provides food and nutritional security in human
life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food free of cost to people to
live a life with dignity. The Act provides that pregnant women and lactating mothers and children
in the age group of 6 months to 14 years are entitled to meals as per prescribed nutritional norms
under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and PM-POSHAN schemes. Higher
nutritional norms are prescribed for malnourished children upto 6 years of age.
Further, in order to improve the nutritional standards in targeted beneficiaries, the
Government has revised the nutritional norms specified in Schedule-II of the Act, vide notification
dated 25.01.2023
.
(g): The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is being implemented in all
the States/UTs including Sidhi Parliamentary Constituency in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
SeSeRSc +c +e