War against COVID-19: Union govt announces Rs 1.7 lakh crore PM Garib Kalyan package

Finance Minister said the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana will touch 8 categories of people including farmers, MNREGA workers, poor senior citizens and widows and poor disabled persons. The package will also cover over 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders, 8.2 crore beneficiaries of Ujjwala subsidized gas scheme, 63 lakh self help groups (SHGs), 3.5 crore registered construction workers and 4 crore workers registered under the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in the organised sector.

New Delhi: The Union government on Thursday announced Rs 1.7 lakh crore package to deal with the adverse impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the poor people.

The Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana (Prime Minister Poor People Welfare Package) will entail both allocation of foodgrains and cash transfers to poor households, farmers, migrant labourers, construction workers and also people employed in the organised sector, covering nearly 80 crore people and workers in the country.

The relief measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also entail a Rs 50 lakh medical insurance cover for all the doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary workers engaged in the battle against the Coronavirus.

“We don’t want anyone to remain hungry,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, adding that the government will also provide cash in their hands through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to help them tide over these difficult times.

She also rejected the criticism that the government delayed the announcement of a relief package.

“We acted within 36 hours of the announcement of the lockdown and announced the package,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Finance Minister said the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana will touch 8 categories of people including farmers, MNREGA workers, poor senior citizens and widows and poor disabled persons.

The package will also cover over 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders, 8.2 crore beneficiaries of Ujjwala subsidized gas scheme, 63 lakh self help groups (SHGs), 3.5 crore registered construction workers and 4 crore workers registered under the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in the organised sector.

And the government will also give directions to states to utilise District Mineral Welfare fund for medical testing and augmenting the health facility to deal with the COVID-19 virus.

Rs 50 lakh medical insurance cover for Corona warriors

The Union government also announced Rs 50 lakh medical insurance cover for all the workers and staff including doctors, nurses and paramedic staff, engaged in this fight against the deadly virus.

The medical insurance cover will cover all kind of workers engaged in this war against the virus: doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary workers, ASHA workers and others, said the finance minister.

Food relief for 80 crore poor

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, which will cover 80 crore poor people or two-thirds of the country’s population, is aimed at making sure that not a single poor remains hungry in the country.

She said each poor person covered under the food security scheme will get 5 kg wheat or 5 kg rice per person, as per their choice, per month for the three months completely free of cost.

In addition to this, each poor household will also get 1 kilo pulse of their choice that is given in that area free of cost for three the next three months. This additional free of cost wheat, rice and pulse will be in addition to their existing entitlements.

The PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, announced by the government will have two components to provide relief to poor people, direct cash transfers through the direct benefit of transfers scheme (DBT) and providing additional free of cost food to deal with the adverse impact of coronavirus on the country.

PM Kisan Samman Nidhi

Finance minister said the government will upfront transfer an installment of Rs 2,000 to 8.69 crore beneficiaries of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to provide some money in their bank accounts. This installment of Rs 2,000 will be directly transferred in the linked accounts next month.

MNREGA wage enhanced

In a major relief for MNREGA workers, the government has increased the wage rate by nearly 11%, from Rs 182 to Rs 202 per day, an increase of Rs 20. The move will benefit nearly 5 crore families whose members are registered under the scheme.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the move will provide an additional amount of Rs 2,000 per MNREGA worker.

Relief for Poor, Senior citizens, Widows, Disabled

The government will also provide an ex-gratia onetime additional amount of Rs 1,000 to 3 crore senior citizens, poor widows and poor disabled persons. The amount of Rs 1,000 will be given in two installments over the next three months.

Women Jan Dhan Account Holders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious financial inclusion programme launched in his first term will come handy in providing direct cash benefits to the poor people in times of need as the money will be directly transferred in their bank accounts.

In a major decision, the government will transfer Rs 500 per month for the next three months in the account of each of women Jan Dhan account holder. The move is expected to benefit nearly 20 crore women PMJDY account holder of total 37.42 crore Jan Dhan accounts in the country.

Relief for Ujjwala Beneficiaries

Finance minister also said that each of nearly 8.3 crore Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries will get free cylinders for the 3 months.

Relief for women SHGs

The government has increased the ceiling of collateral free loans to be availed by 63 lakh SHGs, from existing Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. The enhanced credit limit will be used by them to kick-start their business activities following the containment of COVID-19 virus in next few months.

The move is expected to benefit 7 crore households who are associated with these 63 lakh self-help groups in the country.

Relief for Organised Sector

For the next three months, the Union government will bear the burden by paying the EPF contribution for both the employers and employees to provide relief to workers in the organised sector.

The Centre will pay the employee contribution of 12% and also the employer’s matching contribution of 12%, covering the entire 24% contribution for a worker employed in the organised sector for the next three months.

However, it will be applicable to only those establishments that have up to 100 employees and where 90% of the employees are getting the wage of less than Rs 15,000 a month.

It will not cover employers having more than 100 employees or even those employers that have less than 100 employees but where more than 10% of the employees are getting monthly wages of more than Rs 15,000 month.

The move is expected to benefit 80 lakh employees of 4 lakh establishments.

In yet another relief to the workers in the organised sector, the government will relax the rules for withdrawal of funds deposited in the provident fund scheme. The government will amend the law to allow non-refundable advance of 70% of the total standing credit of an employee. The move will benefit 4.8 crore workers who have been registered with the EPFO.

Relief for construction worker

The Centre will give directions to state governments to utilise the fund of Rs 31,000 crore which is available in the Welfare Fund for the Construction and Building workers which was created as per a Central law for 3.5 crore registered construction workers.

Finance minister said the Centre will issue direction to states to use the fund to minimize the impact of disruption in the construction activity due to lockdown.

"It will benefit those registered workers where construction work has come to a halt due to the lockdown," said the finance minister.

District Mineral Fund

The Center will also issue directions to states to use the fund available in District Mineral Welfare fund for supplementing and augmenting all kind of medical testing facilities. It will allow district magistrates to utilise the district mineral fund for creating testing facility to screen suspected corona cases and their treatment.

(Report by Krishnanand Tripathi)