More than 32 cr poor receive Rs 29,352 cr aid under Garib Kalyan Yojana; fintech, digital technology in place for swift transfer to beneficiary

New Delhi: The government on Monday said more than 32 crore people have received Rs 29,352 crore financial assistance under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month to protect them from the impact of 21-day nationwide lockdown. 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 faced due to the lockdown. A finance ministry statement on Monday said the swift implementation of the package is being continuously monitored by central and state governments. [caption id=“attachment_6004721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The finance ministry, other ministries concerned, 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 13 April 2020, it said, 32.32 crore beneficiaries have been directly given cash support through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) amounting to Rs 29,352 crore under the package. “So far 20.11 lakh MT of food grains have been lifted by 31 States/UTs out of 40 lakh MT for April. About 2.65 lakh MT has been distributed by 16 states/UTs to 5.29 crore beneficiaries covered by 1.19 crore ration cards as April 2020 entitlement. 3985 MT of pulses have also been dispatched to various states/UTs,” it said. With regard to free cooking gas cylinder, it said, total 1.39 crore cylinders have been booked under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) so far and 97.8 lakh free refills have already been delivered to beneficiaries. Of the total disbursement, it said, Rs 14,946 crore has gone towards payment of the first instalment of PM-KISAN. Under the scheme, nearly 7.47 crore out of the 8 crore identified beneficiaries got Rs 2,000 directly in their accounts. As many as 19.86 crore women Jan Dhan account holders received Rs 500 each in their account. The total disbursement under the head was Rs 9,930 crore as on April 13, 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. 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 3,071 crore were given to beneficiaries. It further said free insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for health workers in government hospitals and healthcare centres has been operationalised by New India Assurance covering 22.12 lakh health workers. 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 generated. Further, Rs 7,100 crore released to states to liquidate pending dues of both wage and material,” it said.