Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urging the Centre to extend the provision of free food grains for a period of three months more up till September 2020, as unemployment is on the rise across India, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown imposed to curb its spread.
“Nearly three months since the country went into a strict lockdown and millions of Indians are at risk of slipping into poverty. The provision of 5 kg free food grains per person per month under the National Food Security Act in addition to regular entitlements….the government must consider extending the provision for a further period of three months from July to September, 2020,” the Congress chief wrote in her letter to the Prime Minister.
She also added that several states had requested for the same and suggested that temporary ration cards be issued for all households that were excluded from the Public Distribution System.
