With the coming Lok Sabha election, we again see a glorification of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the bags of food grains are new props for the promotion of the ‘brand Narendra Modi’.
The photograph of PM is to be printed on food grain sacks distributed through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna (PMGKAY), the report stated on Saturday.
Cost of the Brand Promotion
In a Right to Information (RTI) request filed by activist Ajay Bose, he asked for information regarding the cost of bags, tenders, etc, to the Jaipur regional office of Food Co-operation of India (FCI). From the response from FCI, he found that the order cost Rs 13.29 crore for synthetic bags with the PM’s photograph. It is unclear how much has been spent on the bags overall.
According to the FCI response, the Rajasthan government has placed orders for 1.07 crore bags with each bag costing Rs 12.375. The contract for these bags is given to Salasar Technotex Pvt Ltd, Rajasthan Flexible Packaging Ltd, and Alliance Polysacks Pvt Ltd.
While Nagaland is buying bags for Rs 9.3 each. Tamil Nadu has ordered a tender for the supply of 114 crore bags, while Maharashtra is yet to finalize.
“During the free grain distribution under PMGKAY that started in 2020 when the pandemic began, unbranded 50 kg jute sacks were used to disburse grain. The branding of bags with faces of political figures has begun in 2024, ahead of the election,” said an official in the Ministry of Customer Affairs. 
PMGKAY Scheme
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is a scheme as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat to provide free food grains to the poor. Under this scheme, free food is distributed to over 80 crore beneficiaries of Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH). As per data, more than 70 crore people benefited from the scheme and received food grains between 2020 and 2022.
Other Promotional tac-tics by the Modi Government
In December 2023, the Union government was to spend Rs 1.62 crore for setting up photo booths at railway stations. A selfie point for people to click a selfie with PM Modi’s cut out.
Which attracted criticism from many opposition leaders including Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge, who called PM Modi ‘self-obsessed’.
Kerala CM and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Pinarayi Vijayan had declined to install photo booths at ration shops under PMGKAY. West Bengal government had also refused to print the photograph of the PM on ration bags, which led to the Modi government withholding the state funds.
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