Over Rs 68,820 Crore Financial Aid Given To 42 Crore Poor Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana: Govt

As part of the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), around 42 crore persons have received a total of Rs 68,820-crore financial assistance, the finance ministry said in a statement, reports The Hindu.

The PMGKY was launched in 2016.

On 26 March this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package under PMGKY for the poor to help them fight the battle against the novel coronavirus.

Under the scheme, the government had announced a total of 20.40 crores PMJDY women account-holders would be given an ex-gratia of Rs 500 per month for next three months.

Another part was PM Garib Kalyan Ann (अन्न) Yojana, 80 crore individuals (roughly two-thirds of India’s population) were to be provided double of their current entitlement over next three months.

The finance minister had also said that the first instalment of Rs 2,000 due in 2020-21 will be front-loaded and paid in April 2020 itself under the PM KISAN Yojana.

According to the released data:

• Rs 17,891 crore has gone towards payment of first instalment of PM-KISAN; 8.94 crore identified beneficiaries got Rs 2,000 directly in their accounts
  
• 111.6 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains have been distributed to about 75 crore beneficiaries during the April-June period
  
• In addition, a total of 5.43 LMT pulses have also been distributed to 18.8 crore beneficiaries during April-June period
  
• Rs 30,925 crore was credited to 20.6 crore women Jan Dhan account holders in three monthly instalment of Rs 500 each
  
• National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) disbursed about Rs 2,814.5 crore to about 2.81 crore old-age persons, widow and differently-abled persons - beneficiary received an ex-gratia cash of Rs 500 under the scheme in two equal instalments
  
• Increased rate for workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) was notified effective April 1- in the current financial year, 195.21 crore man-days of work generated and Rs 59,618 crore released to States to liquidate pending dues of both wage and material
  
• 36.05 lakh members of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) have taken benefit of online withdrawal of non-refundable advance from EPFO account amounting to 9,543 crore so far
  
• Under the District Mineral Fund (DMF), States have been asked to spend 30 per cent of the funds, which amounts to Rs 3,787 crore, and Rs 343.66 crore has been spent so far

A total 2.67 LMT of food grains was distributed to 5.32 crore migrants. This works out to an average of about 2.66 crore beneficiaries per month, which is nearly 95 per cent of the estimated number of migrants, read the statement.