The IMF released paper, titled Pandemic, Poverty & Inequality: Evidence from India. The country managed to keep extreme poverty below ____% level in 2020 despite COVID-19 outbreak, by resorting to food transfers through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGK

The IMF paper, titled Pandemic, Poverty & Inequality: Evidence from India. The country managed to keep extreme poverty below 1% level in 2020 despite the unprecedented Covid-19 outbreak, by resorting to food transfers through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). As many as 89.1% of rural eligible households and 77.3% of urban households, with an all-India average of 84.6%, received food transfers during the pandemic through the PDS. The supply of free grains as part of the PMGKY scheme was initially launched for the April-June period of FY21, it has been extended up to September 2022. Under the scheme, 81.35 crore people are eligible for 5 kg free wheat/rice per person per month, along with 1 kg free whole chana to each family per month.