Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has extended the free ration scheme for three months. The decision was taken at the first cabinet meeting on Saturday of the newly sworn in state government led by Yogi, following his victory in the latest Assembly Elections.

The free rations scheme will now be in vogue till June 30, 2022. According to the scheme, each family will be given five kilograms of food grain per family per month.

"We have decided to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana from March 31 till June 30," Yogi said in the state capital Lucknow. The scheme is expected t benefit about 15 crore people of the state.

Earlier, Yogi had returned to power in the state for the second straight time breaking a jink of the last 37 years. In 1985, Congress had achieved this feat, when it returned to power with full majority for a second term under the leadership of Narain Dutt Tiwari.

On Friday, Yogi Adityanath took oath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time in Lucknow in a mega event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders attended the grand swearing-in ceremony at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ikana stadium.

The new Cabinet has two Deputy Chief Minister -- Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. Although Maurya had lost the elections from Sirathu by about 7,000 votes, his inclusion in the Cabinet points to his sway over the backward classes and his role in BJP returning to power in the state.

Suresh Kumar Khanna, Surya Pratap Shahi, Swatantra Dev Singh, Baby Rani Maurya, Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, Jaivir Singh, Dharam Pal Singh, Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, Anil Rajbhar, Jitin Prasada, Rakesh Sachan also took the oath on the occasion.

(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)

First Published:Mar 26, 2022 11:52 AM IST