Government will extend free ration scheme for 80 crore poor people for five years: PM Modi
Durg, Nov 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the government will extend for five years the free ration scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, covering 80 crore poor people.
This announcement was made by Modi while addressing a rally for Chhattisgarh elections in Durg.
"During COVID-19, the biggest concern of the poor was what they would feed their children... Then I decided that I will not let any poor sleep hungry, hence the BJP government started the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana," he said.
Even today, lakhs of poor people have been getting free rice and gram under this scheme which is ending in December, but "your son (referring to himself) who has come out from among you has decided....The BJP government will extend the free ration scheme for 80 crore poor people for the next five years, the prime minister said.
"The BJP government has made such arrangements that no matter wherever you go in the country, you will continue to get free ration. Modi has given you the facility of 'One Nation One Ration Card'," he added.
Polling for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.
Modi alleged that Congress treated the poor as a "vote bank" and deceived them.
"Congress has been emotionally exploiting the poor of the country. Congress' entire game was in the interest of its family and dhanna seth. For Congress, poor is only vote (bank)," he said.
Modi said the BJP worked in the direction of 'garib kalyan' (poor's welfare) with patience and honesty.
"For Modi, the poor are the biggest caste in the country and Modi is their 'sevak' (servant), brother and son. The BJP's policy has resulted in the decline of poverty. In five years, 13.50 crore people have come out of poverty," he added.
He accused the Congress of hating the poor.
"The Congress always wants the poor to beg in front of them, hence it wants the poor to remain poor," Modi added.
"When BJP comes to power in Chhattisgarh, the process of construction of houses for lakhs of poor families will be expedited," Modi added.
The PMGKAY was started in April 2020 to help the poor amid the COVID pandemic for three months but it was extended later.
Under the free ration scheme, poor families get 5 kg of food grains each month.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
