New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the scheme to provide 5 Kg food grains and 1 Kg of pulses for free to poor upto November. PM Modi said on Tuesday during a national broadcast, five months extension will cost around Rs. 90, 000 crores, taking the overall cost to Rs. 1.5 lakh crore.

Poor families are entitled to 5 Kg grains every month under the National Food Security Program and the Government is topping up the entitlement with a matching quantity, with pulses through in at no change. The other elements of PM Garib Kalyan Yogana however, ended on Tuesday. The decision was also seen as an early start to the campaign for Bihar elections due to later this year, a state which has a large number of migrant workers who would be beneficiaries.