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Context - The Prime Minister addressed ‘Garib Kalyan Sammelan’ in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

 

Details

• The Prime Minister interacted with the beneficiaries of various government schemes.
• Various government schemes have promoted ease of living and dignified life.
• The Health and Wellness Centre and free checkups and medicines are bringing many changes in beneficiaries' life.
• Financial benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
• Recently The Union Government has decided to extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package yojana.

 

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana/Package

• It is a comprehensive relief package of Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus.
• The Package was announced in March 2020; -
  • Insurance cover of Rs 50 Lakh per health worker fighting COVID-19 to be provided under the Insurance Scheme.
  • Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY): 80 crore poor people will get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months.
  • 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs 500 per month for the next three months.
  • Increase in MNREGA wage to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182.
  • Support of Rs 1,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizens, poor widows and poor disabled.
  • Central Government has given orders to State Governments to use Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to provide relief to Construction Workers.

 

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) is a food security welfare scheme announced by the Government of India in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The program is implemented by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) is a scheme as part of AtmaNirbhar Bharat to supply free food grains to migrants and the poor.
• The objective of the Scheme is to support the poorest citizens of India by providing grain through the Public Distribution System.
• The scale of this welfare scheme makes it the largest food security program in the world.
• PMGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat (according to regional dietary preferences) per person and 1 kg of pulses to each family holding a ration card.

 

Beneficiaries

• Families belonging to the Below Poverty Line, Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) categories will be eligible for the scheme.
  • PHH are to be identified by State Governments/Union Territory Administrations as per criteria evolved by them.
  • AAY families are to be identified by States/UTs as per the criteria prescribed by the Central Government.
• Households headed by widows or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support.
• All primitive tribal households.
• Landless agricultural labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans/craftsmen such as potters, tanners, weavers, blacksmiths, carpenters, slum dwellers, and persons earning their livelihood on daily basis in the informal sector like porters, coolies, rickshaw pullers, hand cart pullers, fruit and flower sellers, snake charmers, rag pickers, cobblers, destitute and other similar categories in both rural and urban areas.
• All eligible Below Poverty Line families of HIV positive persons.

 

Present Status

• The government has spent approximately Rs 2.6 lakh crore so far and another Rs 80,000 crore will be spent over the next six months till September 2022, taking the total expenditure under PM-GKAY to nearly Rs 3.4 lakh crore.
• The scheme covers 80 crore ration cardholders across the countries who are supplied 5 kg of rice or wheat and one kg of pulses per person per month.
• The benefit of the free ration can be availed through Ration card portability by any migrant labourer or beneficiary under the One Nation One Ration Card plan from nearly five lakh ration shops across the country.
  • So far, over 61 crore portability transactions have benefited the beneficiaries away from their homes.
• Phase-I and Phase-II of this scheme were operational from April to June 2020 and July to November 2020 respectively.
  • Phase III of the scheme was operational from May to June 2021.
  • Phase IV of the scheme is currently operational for July-November, 2021.
  • Phase-V of the scheme from December 2021 to March 2022.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1829700