Corona virus relief package: Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana

Sai Tanishka
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman heading the economic task force to combat the coronavirus pandemic, on outlined a Rs 1.7 lakh crore bailout package for the poor, farmers, SHGs, and the organised sector to help them battle any economic disruption.
Named Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, the stimulus package includes measures related to food security and direct cash transfer. Aimed at the poorest of the poor, the package will ensure that no one starves or struggles to buy the most basic household essentials during this crisis . The scheme will cater to two broad categories of people—healthcare ,professionals working on the forefront of COVID-19 pandemic and the poor whose livelihoods have been hit due to the countrywide 21-day lockdown .
Only to the poor ?
Definitely not this scheme is also to the pride of the country ; health workers and their families , insurance cover of INR 50 lakh will be given to all healthcare professionals, including ward-boys, nurses, cleaning workers, paramedics, technicians, doctors and specialists, working in government hospitals and health care hospitals where covid-19 patients are being treated.The insurance scheme will cover hospitalisation expenses of anyone who falls sick while treating a covid-19 patient.

The Plight of Migrant Workers Amid the Nationwide Lockdown
Cash Support ?
Cash support through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), is aimed at eight broad categories—farmers, MGNREGA, widows, pensioners and divyang, women under Jan Dhan Yojana and Ujjawala scheme, women in self-help groups, organised sector workers, construction workers and utilization of district mineral funds. Cash benefits, wherever applicable, will be directly transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account.
what happens to those who do not have a bank account ?
Minister insisted that media persons inform the government of such people so that the latter can extend support to them as well.

Fight against Coronavirus – problems within
Farmers
About 8.7 crore farmers will get the first installment of INR 2,000 under PM Kisan Yojana in April. Under this scheme, all eligible small and marginal farmers get INR 2,000 every fourth month (total INR 6,000 annually) as minimum income support.
Widows, senior citizens and Divyang: In a relief to poor widows, senior citizens and divyang or disabled people, a one-time ex-gratia of INR 1,000 will be given in two installments. A total of INR 3,000 crore will be spent for this purpose under PM Garib Kalyan Package .
Relief package reflects a sense of realism but suggests an insensitivity to macroeconomic processes
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s relief package for the poor in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis reflects a sense of realism as far as its immediate financial implications are concerned, though it continues to suggest insensitivity to macroeconomic processes.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE WORLD ECONOMY
At Rs 1.7 lakh crore the initiative is a major one, especially during an economic slowdown. What makes it feasible is the willingness to tap into resources that will not hurt the deficit. The major thrust of the package, its food component, will only make use of the existing stocks with the Food Corporation of India. Since this unsold stock is already a part of the food subsidy, giving a major part of it to poor households will not hurt the budget in any way. The same would be true of some other measures like the payments to farmers, which are only likely to be an instalment of the existing scheme.
What the government has, typically, chosen to ignore is the macroeconomic implications of the move. What will the huge increase in the supply of rice, wheat and pulses do to the open market prices of these commodities? If they do lead to a crash in market prices, the farmers growing these crops would lose much more than the handouts that have been promised.