Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Tuesday, extended the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna till November end. With the extension, about 80 crore people will get free ration for five more months and will cost the Centre over Rs 90, 000 crore. Under this scheme, every member of these families will get 5 kg wheat or rice. Every family will also get one kg whole chana per month, free of cost.
Hailing the efforts of farmers and honest taxpayers, PM Modi said that the government is able to provide free grains to the poor and needy because of them. Speaking about the impact of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana during lockdown, PM Modi emphasised that Rs 31,000 crore were deposited in the bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Moreover, about Rs 18,000 crore were deposited in the bank accounts of R9 crore farmers.
As India enters into Unlock 2.0, negligence has also been increasing, pointed PM Modi in his address. He said that initially we were cautious about wearing masks, maintaining two-yard distance , washing our hands daily for 20 seconds and following all the rules seriously but now everyone has become relaxed in their approach. Governments, local bodies and citizens need to show the same level of alertness that they did earlier.
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Since the monsoon season is here, which brings with itself more cases of cough, cold and fever, PM Modi urged the citizens to take care of themselves. He also pointed out that timely lockdown and other decision saved millions of lives in India and the country is in a much better position than others in terms of death rate due to coronavirus.
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