Union Cabinet's approval to roll out the new integrated food security scheme for providing free food grains has put to rest all speculations over the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). For Assam, assessing the impact of free food grain distribution on agricultural production from the perspective of paddy procurement, farmers' income, the extent of double or multi-cropping and crop diversification can help understand the ground realities. The new PMGKAY will cover all Antodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) and Priority Household (PHH) beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Central government will spend Rs 2 lakh crore as a subsidy for the distribution of free food grains under the scheme till December this year which is expected to be reflected in the Union Budget for 2023-24. The new scheme is targeted to benefit 80 crores of poor and the poorest of poor people. The PMGKAY launched in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide relief to the poor and the poorest of the poor during the lockdown was extended till December 31, 2022, and spent Rs 3.91 lakh crore as subsidy for providing 5 kg of free rice per person per month in all seven phases. The integrated scheme will subsume two food subsidy schemes under the NFSA - food subsidy to the Food Cooperation of India and the food subsidy given for decentralized procurement, allocation and delivery of food grains by states under the Act. Official data shows that the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs released Rs 1,13,694 crore to the FCI in the financial year 2022-23 for supporting the procurement and distribution of food grains under the NFSA, other schemes and PMGKAY. The government procured 492.60 lakh MT of paddy in various states and union territories during Kharif Market Season in 2022-23 which benefited 58.10 lakh farmers across the country with a total Minimum Support Price (MSP) benefit amounting to Rs 1.01 lakh crore. Assam scripted history by procuring a record quantity of 5.65 lakh MT of paddy last year and sets the target of procurement of 10 lakh MT for 2022-23. Assam being one of the top ten rice-producing states, the national picture of paddy procurement is a pointer of the wide gap between huge potential and actual procurement and the scope of a larger number of farmers in the state benefiting from MSP. Lauding the improvement in procurement figures should leave no room for complacency. The latest procurement figures of FCI for KMS 2022-23 highlight that against 63,90,168 farmers benefitting in the entire country only 4,057 farmers have benefitted from the MSP in the state till January 1. The state has over 27 lakh farm families with 85% being small and marginal, the MSP can play a huge role in strengthening the state economy, more particularly the rural economy which is crucial for secondary and tertiary economic activities to attract quantum investment for a faster pace of industrial growth and employment generation. The Central Government says that the integrated scheme will strengthen the provisions of NFSA, 2013 in terms of accessibility, affordability and availability of food grains for the poor. The portability of ration cards under the One Nation One Ration Card scheme has already made it feasible for availing the benefits of PMGKAY migrant workers and other migrant beneficiaries at their place of temporary residence. Resolution of technical issues at Fair Price Shops (FPS) and timely payment of margin to the FPS Dealers would be a key determinants in the smooth flow of free food grains to intended beneficiaries. Despite the significant increase in paddy procurement in Assam, a large number of paddy growers not getting the benefit of MSP and not getting remunerative prices brings the issue of free distribution of rice to the centre stage of the policy debate if the availability of free food grain has been posing hurdles in achieving the goals of multi-cropping and crop diversification among the majority of farmers. The distribution of free rice takes care of part of their daily meals and shields them from hunger which has added to the availability of marketable surplus paddy produced by farmers. As a result, the paddy price in the market in areas not well covered by procurement mechanisms is not remunerative. This has led to a section of paddy growers not showing interest in multi-cropping and either keeping a portion of their plot fallow or experimenting with shifting to alternative cash crops. One solution to the problem lies in strengthening the paddy procurement to cover all paddy growing areas and making adequate allocation in the central and state budgets for MSP payments. This year is observed as the 'year of millets', motivating these farmers to take up millet production on their farmlands could be another viable solution, provided the government provides the market linkage and ensures MSP for all kinds of millets to ensure sustainable farming and formulates clear roadmap to take advantage of growing popularity of millets among health-conscious citizens.