With the second Covid-19 wave once again rendering millions of poor jobless and triggering another exodus of migrants, the Central government today decided to distribute 5 kg grains free of cost to all the 800 million beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act over and above their regular quota in May and June 2021. The scheme which will be along the lines of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) launched during the first Covid wave last year, will cost the Centre Rs 26,000 crore in subsidies over and above its usual PDS subsidy bill of Rs 1.8 trillion in FY22. Assuming that the offtake of extra free grains in May and June is similar to last year’s level, the additional grain requirement this time around will be about 8 million tonnes over and above the normal PDS distribution in May and June, which should not be of much concern as data shows that food grains stocks the in Central Pool as on April 1 are almost 77.23 million tonnes, or 3.5 times than the buffer requirement.