Lucknow: The Yogi Adityananth government has extended the free ration scheme for the next three months, the schemes will benefit 15 crore people of Uttar Pradesh.

The decision has been taken by the Chief Minister in the first cabinet meeting held on Saturday.

After a stunning victory in the recently held Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh for the second term, the Yogi 2.0 cabinet took oath on Friday. Soon after assuming the charge, the Chief Minister has taken first pro-poor decision providing free ration to the people.

Yogi government has also planned to implement developmental schemes for the state including focusing to generate employment opportunities. The unemployment issues were extensively discussed and raised in recently held Assembly polls.

After the cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that for the scheme the government has to spend Rs 3,270 crore.

As per the eligibility prescribed under the National Food Security (NFS) Act 2013, five kg of food grains is given free of cost to the needy people including migrant workers, unorganised workers, construction workers, domestic helpers, and those who do not have ration cards. Of this 5 kg food, 4 kg is wheat and 1 kg is rice per person per month.

The free ration scheme for the economically weaker sections was started during the corona pandemic period. The scheme was supposed to last till November 2021 but the Centre extended Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Yojana till March 2022.

On Friday, Yogi Adityanath took oath as the chief minister of the state in a jam-packed Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow having a crowd of more than 50,000 in attendance. A total of 52 ministers took oath as ministers, including two deputy Chief Ministers.