80 crore poor families to get free 5 kg of wheat or rice for next 3 months, says Nirmala Sitharaman

The Government of India has announced several relief measures for the common man on Thursday afternoon in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, including the distribution of 5 kg of wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free-of-cost every month over the next three months to 80 crore poor across the country. The decision has been taken to deal with the economic impact of the lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak.

Finance minister clarified that this will be above and over the benefits that are already being extended. She also revealed that the announcements will immediately come into effect and people can start enjoying the benefits. 

She said that 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.

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Also, the beneficiaries of Ujjwala LPG scheme will get free cooking gas for the next three months, she said.

The Government of India will also pay the entire provident fund contribution for select employees for the next three months. In a press conference of Thursday afternoon, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Government of India will pay 24 per cent of EPFO money (12 per cent employee contribution + 12 per cent employer contribution) for the next three months for those establishments that have up to 100 employees and 90% of those who draw less than Rs 15,000 per month.

All of this forms part of the Rs 1.70 lakh crore Gramin Kalyan Package.