The Union Cabinet took important decisions on Friday. The scheme of giving free ration to the poor has been further extended till December 2023. About 2 lakh crore rupees will be spent on this. Right now 81.35 crore people are being given ration under the National Food Security Act. Along with this, the cabinet also approved amendment in One Rank One Pension for the Armed Forces. However, those defense personnel who have taken voluntary retirement after July 1, 2014, will not get this benefit.
Rice at Rs.3, wheat at Rs.2 and coarse grains at Rs.1/kg
Union Minister Piyush Goyal told after the meeting that the food grains given to the poor under the National Food Security Act will be given free of cost till December 2023 for the next one year. This will put an additional burden of Rs 2 lakh crore on the central government. The scheme implemented from March 2020 has been extended in 7 phases. Earlier in September it was extended by three months.
25 lakh ex-servicemen benefitted
OROP stands for Same Pension for Same Rank and Same Length of Service. The date of retirement does not matter in this. That is, if an officer served in the armed forces for 15 years from 1985 to 2000 and another officer served from 1995 to 2010, both would get the same pension. This will benefit 25 lakh ex-servicemen.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the number of beneficiaries, including those who retired after July 1, 2014, has crossed 25 lakh. Due to this there will be an additional burden of Rs 8,450 crore on the government.
According to Union Minister Anurag Thakur, after the amendment, the arrears or arrears from July 2019 to June 2022 will also be given to the pension scheme. That is, a total of Rs 23,638.07 crore will be given. The arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments. The benefit of this will be given to the retirees and family pensioners from all the defense forces.