Over 33 crore people get Rs 31,235 crore assistance under PM Garib Kalyan package

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The government has provided Rs 31,235 crore financial assistance to more than 33 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to COVID 19.

As part of the Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package, the government announced free foodgrains and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens and farmers to mitigate the hardships during the lockdown.

The swift implementation of the package is being continuously monitored by central and state governments, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

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The Finance Ministry, the concerned Ministries, Cabinet Secretariat and PMO are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the relief measures reach the needy swiftly and in line with the intent of the lockdown, it said.

"Fintech and digital technology have been employed for swift and efficient transfer to the beneficiary. Direct benefit transfer, i.e. transfer that ensures that the amount is directly credited into the account of the beneficiary, eliminates leakage and improves efficiency has been employed. This has also ensured credit to the beneficiary's account without the need for the beneficiary to physically go to the branch," it said.

As of April 22, 2020, it said, Rs 16,146 crore has gone towards payment of the first instalment of PM-KISAN.

Under the scheme, 8 crore identified beneficiaries got Rs 2,000 directly in their accounts.

As many as 20.05 crore women Jan Dhan account holders received Rs 500 each in their account.

The total disbursement under the head was Rs 10,025 crore as on April 22, it said.

The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) disbursed about Rs 1,400 crore to about 2.82 crore old age persons, widow and differently-abled persons, the ministry added. Each beneficiary received an ex-gratia cash of Rs 500 under the scheme as the first instalment. Another instalment of Rs 500 each will be paid next month.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana 40.03 Lakh MT of food grains have been lifted by 36 states and Union Territories (UTs) out of 40 lakh MT for April so far.

"19.63 lakh MT has been distributed by 31 States/UT to 39.27 crore beneficiaries covered by 1.19 Crore Ration cards as April 2020 entitlement. 1,09,227 MT of Pulses have also been dispatched to various states/UTs," it said.

Besides, total 3.05 crore cylinders have been booked under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana so far and 2.66 crore PMUY free gas cylinders have already been delivered to beneficiaries.

Increased rate for workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has been notified effective April 1, it said.

"In the current financial year, 19.56 lakh person's man-days of work were generated. Further, Rs 7,100 crore released to states to liquidate pending dues of both wage and material," it said.

As many as 2.17 crore building & construction workers received financial support from the Building and Construction Workers' Fund managed by state governments. Under this, Rs 3,497 crore were given to beneficiaries.

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