New Delhi: BJP president J P Nadda said on Wednesday that the Narendra Modi government's free ration scheme PMGKAY benefited 80 crore people and prevented the country's poverty level from rising despite the epidemic and subsequent lockdown.

Nadda paid a visit to a public distribution system (PDS) store in Kailash Nagar, east Delhi, where he delivered foodgrain packets to Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna beneficiaries (PMGKAY). He participated in the activity as part of the BJP's'samajik nyay pakhwada' (social justice fortnight) campaign.

The BJP president described the Modi administration as "proactive, responsive, and pro-people."

On March 24, 2020, the COVID-19-induced lockdown was implemented, and Prime Minister Modi declared the PMGKAY on March 26, he said.  The central government offers five kilogrammes of foodgrains per individual per month for free under the PMGKAY. "Since that time, 80 crore people have received free foodgrains." When people came out of the lockdown, the amount of poverty that would have normally escalated did not, and Modi's programmes managed the shock," Nadda added, speaking to a crowd of PMGKAY recipients.

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