Mumbai, Jun 30 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) by five months till November end.

The extension of the PMGKAY, a programme to provide free ration for over 80 crore people, mostly poor, was announced by the prime minister in his televised address to the nation in afternoon.

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Thackeray had requested Modi to extend the scheme during a recent video conference meeting, the chief minister's office said in a statement.

Under the scheme, rice and chana dal are disbursed. Under the national food security scheme, nearly seven crore people will be benefited, it said.

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The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)