PMGKY Scheme: In 2016, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) was launched by PM Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. It was launched with other provisions of the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 2016, and came into effect from under the Ministry of Finance on December 17, 2016. Launched as a welfare package for the poor, the PMGKY was extended in 2020 as a comprehensive relief package for the poor to help them fight against Covid-19. There were many schemes and packages which were launched under the PMGKY that have helped the government to fight against critical situations due to pandemics. In this article, we are going to discuss about Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, so to know more about PMGKY, read the following content till the end.
What is the main Objective of PMGKY?
Initially, this yojana was launched as a part of the Taxation Laws Act 2016 (second amendment) by the Indian Government to bring back black money from tax evaders. In order to execute it efficiently, the government offered them protection from government prosecution. Under this scheme, the government opened a window for the tax evaders for disclosing their unaccounted income with a 49.9 percent tax rate. The aim was to use these deposited amounts for removing income inequality in India. However, in 2020 the Indian Government announced relief packages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the Covid-19 situation escalated in the country, the government of India extended PMGKY as a comprehensive relief package worth Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore for the poor in order to help them in such tough conditions due to Corona Virus. The announcement of the relief package was made by the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister– Nirmala Sitharaman– under the PMGKY. During the pandemic situation, the main aim of the scheme was to support the livelihood of the poor during Coronavirus-related lockdowns in the country.
What were the Measures taken under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana?
The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced various measures taken under this package on 26th March 2020. The PMGKY relief package included several measures which are mentioned below:
- Insurance cover was provided to every health worker (Nurses, Asha workers, doctors, paramedics, and sanitation workers) fighting COVID-19 under the Insurance Scheme and it was of Rs 50 Lakh per individual. The scheme was extended for one-year effective April 2021.
- Jan Dhan account holders (20 crore women) received Rs 500 per month.
- In order to benefit around 13.60 crore families, the government increased the MNREGA wage from Rs 182 to Rs 202 per day.
- The free ration was provided to 80 crore poor people every month where they received 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses. This scheme was extended to November 2021.
- Ex-Gratia of Rs 1,000 was allotted to 3 crores poor senior citizens, poor widows as well as poor disabled people in the country.
- The Central Government also ordered the State Governments to use the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund for providing relief for the construction workers.
Benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana Relief Package
In order to reduce the loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the Finance Minister extended the PM Garib Kalyan Package on March 26th, 2020 as a comprehensive relief package for the BPL families to help them fight against Covid-19. Below here is the list of some benefits provided by the PM Garib Kalyan relief package:
Insurance Cover to Health Worker
Under this Scheme, any health worker in government hospitals and healthcare centers who are involved in the treatment of the Covid-19 patients would be provided with insurance. The insurance cover Rs. 50 lakhs if in case they met with some accident due to coronavirus.
The health workers who are entitled to this insurance consist of Nurses, ASHA workers, paramedics, technicians, doctors, specialists, safai karamcharis, and ward boys. All the government health and wellness centers, along with the hospitals of Centers and States would be covered under this insurance scheme. About 22 lakh health workers would be offered insurance cover to help them fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
Free Pulses to Covid-19 affected BPL families
In order to help poor people during the lockdown period due to the Covid pandemic, the Government of India announced to offer of free rations. The commodity includes 5 kg of wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses. The free ration was provided for 80 crore poor people under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for three months in order to ensure adequate accessibility of protein to all the Covid-19 affected families that fall under the BPL category.
Benefit to Farmers
The Government of India front-loaded Rs. 2000 paid to farmers in April’s first week under the current PM Kisan Yojana which is aimed to benefit more than 8 crore farmers in the country.
Free LPG cylinders to the BPL families
On 26th March 2020, the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman also announced to provide free cylinders to the Below Poverty Line families. This benefit was offered for the three months since the date of the announcement under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
Helping Low Wage Earners
The PM Garib Kalyan Package helped the low-wage earners whose monthly earnings are below Rs. 15,000 in such a business that has less than 100 workers. In addition to that, these wage workers were provided 24 percent of their monthly wages into their PF accounts for three months from the date of the announcement. This scheme was an initiative to prevent low-wage workers go through disrupting their employment.
Final Words
Overall, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) is a great initiative by the Government of India which was initially launched to get the return of black money from tax evaders, but eventually, it has helped the country to deal with economic disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the help of several schemes and different packages under the PMGKY, the Indian Government has helped poor citizens of the country to carry on their daily lives in spite of their inability to work during the pandemic situations. This was all about Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, if you have more queries then you can ask us in our comment section. Thank you for reading!