p>The Government launched the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) for the poorest of the poor on 25 December 2000. Under this scheme, 25 kg of foodgrain was made available to each eligible family at highly subsidised rates of Rs two per kg for wheat and Rs three per kg for rice. This quantity has been enhanced from 25 kg to 35 kg from 1 April 2002. There are about one crore Antyodaya families in the country. The identification of these families is carried out by the State Government/UT Administration from among the BPL families in each State/UT. The Government has expanded the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to cover an additional 50 lakh BPL families from amongst the following priority groups: (i) Households headed by widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support; (ii) Widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more or single women or single men with no family or societal support or assured means of subsistence; (iii) All primitive tribal households.

As announced in the Interim Budget for 2004-05, the AAY will be further expanded by including another 50 lakh BPL families, thus increasing its coverage from 1.5 crore to two crore BPL families.

As against the allocation of 45.55 lakh tonnes of foodgrains during 2003-04, a quantity of 38.24 lakh tonnes has been lifted. This represents 83.95 per cent offtake.