Gandinagar (Gujarat) [India], March 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Surat Gujarat on March 7, where he will attend the Surat Food Security Saturation Campaign. As part of the initiative, the PM will distribute benefits to approximately 2 lakh eligible beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), according to a press release.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will also grace the event.
Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, launched the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana' (PMGKAY) to provide free, quality food grains to poor families. Under this initiative, in Gujarat, more than 76 Lakhs of NFSA cards have been issued, covering approximately 3.72 crore people.
Gujarat government has issued a directive to classify beneficiaries of the Ganga Swaroopa Aarthik Sahay Yojana (under the Women and Child Development Department), the Vruddh Pension Sahay Yojana (under the Social Justice and Empowerment Department), and the Divyang Sahay Yojana as 'priority households' under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), regardless of their income limits.
This ensures that these beneficiaries receive both subsidized food grains and free food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
Following the scheme saturation approach of PM Modi and the commitment to Antyodaya Kalyan (upliftment of the underprivileged) by CM Bhupendra Patel, the Surat District Food Security Saturation Campaign has been undertaken in Surat. Under this campaign, efforts were made to identify eligible poor beneficiary families, with a special focus on Ganga Swaroopa (widowed) women, elderly individuals, Divyangs, and marginalized daily wage earners.
Upon verifying beneficiaries receiving support under social security schemes, it was found that around 1,50,000 beneficiaries in Surat district were availing benefits under the Ganga Swaroopa Yojana, Vruddh Pension Sahay Yojana, and Divyang Sahay Yojana.
In response, the district administration formed taluka and zonal-level teams to assess how many of these beneficiaries were already covered under NFSA or could be included under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). Operating in mission mode, these teams swiftly identified families with and without NFSA cards. After mapping the existing beneficiaries, a detailed survey was conducted to identify those still excluded. Over the past year, the administration has worked proactively to bring marginalized individuals under NFSA coverage, ensuring food security for all eligible families, said the press release.
After completing the entire process, approximately 2 lakh beneficiaries have been identified under the Surat Food Security Saturation Campaign. All these beneficiaries will receive National Food Security Act (NFSA) benefits from the Prime Minister on March 7, 2025.
As per the Government of India's food security provisions, each NFSA cardholder beneficiary receives 5 kilograms of food grains (wheat and rice) per person per month. To strengthen both food security and nutritional security, the Gujarat government provides additional essential food items at subsidized rates.
According to the state government, people get rates of 1 kg of Toor dal at Rs 50 per kg, 1 kg of Chana (Chickpeas) at Rs 30 per kg, 1 kg of Sugar (per card) at Rs 15 per kg (AAY), 350 grams of Sugar (per member) at Rs 22 per kg (BPL), 1 kg of Double-Fortified Salt at Rs 1 per kg.
During Janmashtami and Diwali, all NFSA cardholder beneficiaries receive an additional 1 kg of sugar per card and 1 litre of double-filtered groundnut oil at a subsidized rate of Rs 100 per litre.