Antyodaya Yojana to get additional Rs 507 cr, to cover 1.5 cr families

NEW DELHI: An additional 50 lakh families would be brought under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) which supports the poorest of the poor in the country, taking the total number of households benefiting from the scheme to 1.5 crore, the government announced on Friday.
In the first policy pronouncement of his Budget speech, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said the scheme would be expanded from April 1 this year and the additional budgetary expenditure on this account would be Rs 507 crore.
Linking the scheme to Deen Dayal Upadhyay''s theory of "Integral Humanism", Singh said, "I want this to be the first announcement that is made (in the speech)".
Under the scheme the poorest of the poor are given 35 kg foodgrains per month per household at the rate of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and and Rs 3 per kg for rice.
The minister said with the proposed expansion, the scheme will cover more than a quarter of all BPL (Below the Poverty Line) families in the country.
He said the AAY''s expansion aims at covering the first part of his assurance -- grain in the stomach of the poor.
Meanwhile, sources said Food Minister Sharad Yadav had proposed doubling the number of beneficiaries under the AAY to two crore.
However, due to financial constraints the scheme has been expanded by only 50 lakh households instead of the proposed one crore families.
Jaswant Singh also proposed rationalisation of all welfare schemes in the country.