The Yogi Adityanath government in its first cabinet meeting on Saturday extended by three months the Covid-time free ration schemes in a nod to their stellar role in ensuring the BJP’s return to power in Uttar Pradesh for a second consecutive term.

The schemes for the poor that were started during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 proved a game-changer in the Assembly elections as the people overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in the hope that they would continue to receive free food at a time Covid has played havoc with life and livelihood.

Chief minister Adityanath told reporters after the meeting that every beneficiary family would continue to receive over the next three months 35kg of food grains a month under the Antyodaya scheme and another 5kg of grains per person per family every month under Patra Grihasti.

“Providing support to every citizen of the country during the corona period, our respected Prime Minister started the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Eighty crore people across the country benefited under the scheme. It helped the people from April 2020 to March 2022. Fifteen crore beneficiaries of the Antyodaya and Patra Grihasti schemes were receiving this benefit in Uttar Pradesh. Here, we implemented it (free ration) for three months in April 2020 and extended it,” he said.

The Antyodaya scheme is for those who don’t have a regular source of income and the Patra Grihasti plan is for families with an annual income of less than Rs 2 lakh.

“The state government has added to the free ration 1kg of pulse, 1kg of cooking oil and 1kg of iodised salt for the beneficiaries of both schemes. One kilogram of sugar was also given to the Antyodaya families. Since this scheme was till March 31, 2022, the cabinet decided today to extend it by three months for the 15 crore poor people of the state,” Adityanath added.

The chief minister said the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state were not only giving free food grains but also “free Covid-19 vaccines”.

The free ration helped the BJP return to power by winning 255 of the 403 seats in the February-March Assembly elections.

“I am here to give you this information because it is the first decision of the cabinet of my government,” the chief minister said, adding that the schemes were being implemented in a transparent manner.