Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana

In bringing the Indian economy back on the wagon, the Government of India came up with several schemes. One of these was releasing grants under the Pradhan Mantri (PM) Garib Kalyan Yojana. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana was implemented to help the weaker section of society. The aim of this initiative is to use the untaxed money of the economy to help the underprivileged with basic needs like food. The PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, just like other government schemes, includes some specific objectives, policies, and components. 

What is PM Garib Kalyan Yojana?

The PM Garib Kalyan Yojana holds its place in the second amendment of The Tax Law of India, that is, Taxation Law Act, 2016. The PM Garib Kalyan Yojana ensures that the money is not taxed or unaccounted to be declared by the tax evaders. The mission here is to let the evaders uncover the unaccounted amount without facing any criminal prosecution. Moreover, this declaration helps in avoiding penalties for filing taxes. The major objective of the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana was to bring this undeclared black amount of the economy into the use of public welfare. The welfare here was aimed at the poor section of society and was initially applicable from December 2016 until March 2017. 

During the Coronavirus Pandemic, when the lockdown was imposed, the weaker section suffered from basic needs like food and money for daily survival. The scheme of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana was then extended to introduce the relief packages. The relief packages were to support and facilitate the smooth livelihood of the underprivileged section of society. Right from food and healthcare to other basic amenities, the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana proved to be a boon to the poor. 

Objectives of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

The objectives of PMGKY evolved with the economic urgency of the country and can be listed as follows:

• The main objective of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana was to put an end to the black money and initiate income equality. To reach this objective, PM Garib Kalyan Yojana offered a way in which the tax evaders could disclose the unaccounted black money without facing any penalty or government prosecution. The government opened the window, where the evaders could deposit the total black money at the tax rate of 49.9%. 
• The scheme was extended in the year 2020 when the country was poorly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides affecting the health stats, the pandemic also disrupted the other aspects of survival such as employment, flooding, etc. While providing financial assistance to the needed sections of society, the second objective came into the picture: supporting the employees earning low wages and other small establishments. Therefore, the EPF contributions (employee) are worth Twelve percent of the wages and Twelve percent of the employer’s EPF contribution. That made the monthly wages equivalent to three months.  
• The Union Finance Minister announced a relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana of Rs. 1.70 Lakh Crores to help the poor during the pandemic. 

Components Of Kalyan Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana’s components are as follows:

PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: 

The package was set afloat by the Government of India to fight the food scarcity among the weaker sections during the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme ensures every family gets 1 kg and 5 kg of wheat or rice per individual. Moreover, families were also helped with 1 kg pulses. 

Advances for the instalments to the farmers: 

The farmers were given the advances of PM KISAN YOJANA’s first instalments as support amid the pandemic. 

Covid-19 Health Worker’s Insurance:

Under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, all the health workers, including the frontline healthcare providers, volunteers, staff of hospitals and clinics, and all the medical institutions treating Novel Coronavirus cases were insured. Moreover, the Ministry of Healthcare and Family Welfare had borne the premium. A compensation of fifty Lakhs was given to the family of every deceased health worker engaged in serving the Covid-19 patients. 

Package for Low Wage Earners:

The scheme covered the small businesses by crediting the employee’s PF accounts with 24% of their monthly wages.

Gas Cylinder to the Beneficiaries of PMUY:

LPG cylinders were given to around 8 crore beneficiaries of PMUY or Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana. 

Worker Support under MNREGA:

The government increased the wages under MNREGA by twenty rupees. This helped in increasing the capital benefit up to Rs. 2000. 

Assistance to Senior Citizens:

Approximately three crore people, including specially-abled and widows, were helped with Rs. 1000 each. 

Other Measures:

Other Measures under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana included a fund for supporting the construction workers amid the situation of novel coronavirus. 

Policy Details of Kalyan Yojana

The PM Garib Kalyan Yojana worked using its various policies to ensure the welfare of poor and low-wage workers during the pandemic. The major policies of the Kalyan Yojana include:

• Insurance Schemes for Health workers addressing the Covid-19 cases
• Helping women by transferring cash to the accounts of Jan Dhan
• PM Garib Anna Yojana
• Payments under PM Kisan Yojana
• Financial aid to the Workers of Organised Sectors
• Support to MNREGA workers
• Reliefs for Senior Citizens

Conclusion

With the emergence of the Novel Coronavirus in India, India’s economy went downhill. Not only the health but the financial status of every household was affected. While the country faced an unexpected mortality rate, the unemployment due to financial crises challenged survival. In the course of the suffering, the Government came up with several reforms and schemes to support the economy and individual households. PM Garib Kalyan Yojana was the scheme originally launched before the pandemic as a legal chance for the Tax Evaders to disclose their black money without any Government prosecution. Later on, the objective of the scheme was extended to use this disclosed money for the welfare of the poor.