Issue under Antyodaya Anna Yojna

AAY launched on 25 December 2000 provides food grains at a highly subsidized rate of `2.00 per kg for wheat and `3.00 per kg for rice to the poor families under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

The scale of issue, which was initially 25 kg per family per month, was increased to 35 kg per family per month from April 1, 2002. The scheme initially for one crore families was expanded in June 2003 by adding another 50 lakh BPL families.

During 2003-04, under the AAY, against an allocation of 45.56 lakh tonnes of food grains, 41.65 tonnes were lifted by the State/UT Governments. Budget 2004-05 expanded the scheme further from August 1, 2004 by adding another 50 lakh BPL families. With this increase, 2 crore families have been covered under the AAY.
In other words Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families the Central Government shares more than four-fifths of the burden.