What is PM Garib Kalyan Yojana?

What is PM Garib Kalyan Yojana? 

On Thursday Afternoon Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled slew of measures under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to battle the coronavirus pandemic and help the poor, farmers, SHGs, and the organised sector. 

Indian government launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana in 2016 where income taxpayers were given the opportunity to forgo prosecution by declaring their illegal money and paying 50% penalty on their unaccounted incomes. The scheme was valid from 16th Dec 2016 to 31st March 2017, the collected money was to be used to uplift the poor people of the country. Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday afternoon announced Rs 1.7 lakh crore bailout package under the same scheme. Under PMGKY the FM announced eight separate measures directed at farmers, MNREGA, poor widows, poor pensioners, Jan Dhan Yojana accounts held by women, UJVALA scheme holders, SHGs for women, organized sector workers through EPFO and construction workers. Here is what scheme will cover:

• PM Garib Kalyan Yojana will include cash transfers to the poor and migrants.
• Around 80 crore people will come under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (food scheme). In this everyone who is under this scheme will get 5 kg of wheat/rice for free in addition to what they are already getting. The government be also giving 1 kg of one choice of pulse to each household under this scheme for the next three months. People can take it in two installments as well.
• Farmers will receive Rs 6,000 every year through the PM-KISAN scheme.  Installment of Rs. 2000 will be transferred in the first week of April. Around 8.69 crore farmers in the country are expected to benefit from this immediately.
• 8.3 crore families below poverty line will get free LPG cylinders for three months.
• Finance Minister announced that the government will pay the EPF contribution, of both the employer and employee, for 3 months for all the establishments with less than 100 employees out of which 90% earn below ₹15,000 per month.
• Medical insurance of Rs 50 lakh each, for paramedics, nurses, ASHA workers and others working on the frontlines of fighting the Covid 19 across the country, which will benefit about 20 lakh people.
• Divyangs, poor senior citizens, widows will get Rs 1,000 over the next three months.