PPMGKY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana) is a policy of the Government of India that came into effect in 2016. In March 2020, when the covid 19 pandemic hit the world, each and every country was severely affected. India was no exception in this case. And when nationwide lockdown came into play, the lower middle class and the underprivileged classes suffered a massive hit in their daily income.
The whole country was already in recession as the economy shrunk by -24% in the first quarter of 2020, followed by a decrease of -8% in the second quarter. In simple words, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan yojna is an initiative taken by the government to help the poor and underprivileged not to become the victim of poverty and corruption
.Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna is a government scheme that is very important for the UPSC exam. UPSC aspirants can download the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna Notes pdf from the given link.
When was PMGKY formed?
Many people believe that PMGKY was formed during the covid 19 pandemic in 2020. However, it is not true. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched PMGKY in December 2016 under the lines of the Income Declaration Scheme. At that time, there was the 2nd amendment in the taxation law.
So, in the PMGKY scheme, when an individual has some Black Money, then he should surrender the money himself to the government, after which he has to pay only a 50% fine of the actual amount and another 25% of the undisclosed amount will be transferred to the PMGKY scheme.
So the basis of the whole scheme was to distribute the black money from the corrupted officials to the ones who needed some financial support. However this was the scheme in the year 2016, but things changed drastically after the emergence of the covid 19 pandemic, after which the finance minister of the country, Dr Nirmala Sitharaman, announced a relief package of 1.70 lakh crores for the poor under the newly framed Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan yojna.
Benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan yojna (PMGKY)
- Five hundred rupees will be distributed to the accounts of all the 20 crore ladies who have the Jan Dhan accounts, which were made to ensure financial inclusion and give them benefits such as debit card and credit facilities, personal accident and life insurance coverage, zero balance account and many more.
- LPG cylinders will be distributed to 8 crore poor and underprivileged families under the Ujjwal Yojna.
- One thousand rupees will be provided to every senior citizen of the country
- 28,265 crores will be distributed to 28,000 beneficiaries through the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan yojna.
- 50,000 crores have been invested in the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan yojna to be given to the migrant workers who have returned to their native places due to the absence of work or income.
- The Centre will give 50 lakhs medical insurance cover for the next 3 months for 22 lakh health workers in government hospitals who are fighting the spread of the virus at their own risk.
- In addition, according to regional preferences, one kg of pulse a household will also be given for free. This is expected to benefit about 80 crore people.
- Nearly 3 crores of poor pension holders, senior citizens (above 60 years), widows, and disabled people will be getting one thousand rupees in 2 instalments.
- Daily Wages are hiked under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, abbreviated as MNREGA, from ₹182 to ₹202 per day.
What is Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna?
During the covid 19 pandemic in 2020, Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Anna yojna, abbreviated PMGKAY, came into play. According to this scheme, food grains will be supplied to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries in the country, which includes farmers, women Jan Dhan account holders, ration card holders, widows, disabled pensioners, etc.
According to this scheme, a person gets a 5kg free ration according to his ration card .i.e if your Ration card has the name of 4 people from your family, then the 4 people will get each 5kg ration.
When this scheme was announced during the first wave of covid, at that time, it was announced that it would be implemented for just two months .i.e from April 2020 to June 2020. It was stated that 5 kg of rice or wheat would be distributed per person, and the beneficiaries of this scheme would be the 80 crore people who have been enrolled in the National Food Security Act.
However, the covid wave didn’t stop in May, and this scheme was again extended until June. Finally, after repeated lockdowns due to the increasing covid 19 cases, the scheme was officially extended up to Diwali 2020, .i.e, till November 2020.
Did the government further extend PMGKAY?
As addressed earlier by the Central Government, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna was not extended further, and the central government had its fair share of reasons.
- The economy is slowly reviving, and the OMSS [open market sale scheme] is already available to all stakeholders.
- The states which feel there is a need for more distribution are free to buy rice and wheat under OMSS. And then provide the food items to migrants & other vulnerable communities.
Do we need PMGKAY?
According to the Right to Food Camp, their argument is that there is a need of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna even now. This is because the Honourable Supreme Court of India, on June 2021, has passed an order that even if any migrant worker in the country does not have a ration card, they are still eligible for the food provided under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna as a basic right.
The RFC also argues that even today, the pandemic has not ended. The cases are still coming, and after the catastrophic lockdowns, unemployment is at severely problematic levels, which in turn challenges the daily income of an individual. In addition, there is widespread hunger between the poor classes of society, which is a challenge to their basic human rights.
It was evident due to the decreasing cases during January 2021 that covid was no more, so we declared that there is no more fear of covid, but again in March 2021, cases again started to increase like wildfire.
The impact was even bigger this time with the immeasurable number of deaths and infections this time. This led to another lockdown nationwide, leading to another round for the migrant workers to go to their home without any work or income. And this didn’t stop here also; in December 2021, there came another variant of the virus, in the form of Omicron. This led to another lockdown, which again affected the lives of the migrant workers miserably.
According to the RFC, the Centre must not only increase the duration of PMGKAY but also stop making ration cards mandatory as many people who do not have ration cards suffer due to the unavailability of food.
In their argument, RFC also stated that instead of only wheat and rice, the government should also add pulses and cooking oils to the monthly entitlement list under the scheme, as the prices for these items are very high and they are very much costly, which makes it difficult for the poor classes of the society to obtain them on a daily basis.
Although the central government has refused to extend the scheme further, it has permitted state governments to extend the scheme if they feel it is necessary. In fact, in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government had already extended the scheme up to March 2022.
However, there may be some politics involved due to the UP elections being held within that time period, which would gain them some vote bank from the beneficiaries of the scheme; still, this is a good step if we keep the topic of food security in mind.
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Can the government extend PMGKAY?
From April 2020 to November 2021, nearly 598 lakh grains have been distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna. In 2020-21, almost 890 lakh paddy was obtained compared to 764 lakh tonnes in the previous year. Same with Wheat procurement for 2021-22, which was more than 433 lakh tonnes.
This means that food stocks with the Food Corporation of India are very much abundant at the time. In fact, in June & July 2021, stocks of rice-wheat stood for more than 900 lakh tonnes. By October 2021, the stocks were nearly 724 lakh tonnes, almost 100 lakh tonnes more than the previous year.
So the answer is, yes, the government can extend the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna. Because now the food stockings with the central government is very much high
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FAQs
What is the objective of PMGKY?
A- The objective of PMGKY is to help those who are the ones deprived of any kind of help during the pandemic
Who launched Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna?
A- The Narendra Modi Government launched the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna
When was the pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna launched?
A- Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna was launched during the emergence of the covid 19 pandemic during March 2020; to be precise, the exact date was 26 March 2020.
Who is the nodal ministry of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna?
A- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna is functioned by the food and public distribution department under the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. However, the Ministry of Finance is the nodal ministry of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna.
What is the primary objective of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna?
A- Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan anna yojna aims to provide food and supplies to the underprivileged classes, like the migrant workers, during the unfortunate and devastating scenario of the covid 19 pandemic.