32 cr people recieved direct cash support, ration given to 5.29 cr beneficiaries under PM Garib Kalyan Yojna amid lockdown: FM

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday informed that over 32 crore people have been given direct cash support of Rs 29,352 crore and 5.29 crore beneficiaries have been given free ration of food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package and Ann Yojana amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

"Swift implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package is being monitored at the highest level. As of yesterday, more than 32 crore poor people have been given direct cash support of Rs 29,352 crore under the package," said Rajesh Malhotra, Ministry of Finance here during a press conference.

"5.29 crore beneficiaries have been given free ration of food grains under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana. 3,985 metric tonnes of pulses have been dispatched to various states or union territories for distribution," he said.

The Finance Ministry said that more than 97 lakh free LPG gas cylinders delivered to beneficiaries under Prime Minister Ujjawala yojana.

As many as 1 lakh members of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) have taken benefits of online withdrawal of non-refundable advance from EPFO accounts amounting to Rs 510 crore.In order to provide support to farmers in view of the lockdown, Rs 14, 946 crore have been transferred to 7.4 crore farmers towards first installment of PM Kisan Yojana.Moreover, Rs 9,930 crore have been disbursed to 19.86 crore women, who are Jan Dhan Account holders through DBT and Rs 1,400 crore have been disbursed to about 2.82 crore old age persons, widows, and disabled people under national social assistance programme.More than 2 crore building and construction workers have received financial support amounting to Rs 3,071 crore, Malhotra said.

The 21-day nationwide lockdown in India, which was imposed till April 14, has been extended till May 3 with strict restrictions in place till April 20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a decision on easing restrictions will be taken after a week, only at places which do not have COVID-19 hotspots.