Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama on Thursday stated the
government is planning to provide a relief package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore to the
underprivileged, poor and migrant workers affected by the lockdown amid the
coronavirus outbreak. The scheme has been named the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan
Scheme.
She also said that workers -- like nurses, paramedics and
sanitation staff -- who were in the frontline of the war against the disease,
will be provided medical insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh per person.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from
midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social
distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads
rapidly.
PTI Adds: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced 5 kg of
wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free-of-cost every month for the
next three months for 80 crore poor across the country to deal with the
economic impact of the lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak.
As many of 20.5 crore women
Jan Dhan Account holders will get Rs 500 per month for next three months to run
their households.
For poor senior citizens,
widow and disabled will get an ex-gratia of Rs 1,000.
Also, the daily wage under
MNREGA has been increased to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182 to benefit 5 crore
workers.
The minister said the
government will front-load Rs 2,000 payment to farmers in the first week of
April under the existing PM Kishan Yojana to benefit 8.69 crore farmers.
Also, the beneficiaries of
Ujjwala LPG scheme will get free cooking gas for the next three months, she
said.
This forms part of the Rs
1.70 lakh crore Gramin Kalyan package.
Tags
Economy