Question : Citizens in BPL Category

(a) whether the Government has any plan for the citizens who have fallen into the category of Below Poverty Line (BPL) because of Covid Pandemic; and

(b) if so, the details thereof and the action taken in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)
(a)& (b): The Government has taken several initiatives to mitigate the hardship faced by the citizens of the country because of Covid pandemic. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, on 26th March 2020, announced relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) to help the poor fight the battle against Corona virus. The relief package announced, inter-alia, included:

i. One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 per month for 3 months (April, May and June 2020) to women Jan Dhan Account holders. In pursuance of this, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) implemented the scheme of relief package of one-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 per month for 3 months (April, May and June 2020) to women Jan Dhan Account holders through various Banks. A total of Rs.30,944.90 crores has been released towards direct benefit transfers to 20.64 crore women beneficiaries of Jan Dhan account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) @ Rs. 500/- each for three months.

ii. Ex-gratia of Rs.1000/- in two installments (Rs.500/- each) to the existing old age, widow and disabled/Divyangjan beneficiaries of the schemes of National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). A total of Rs.2814.50 crore as ex-gratia was released in two tranches in April and May, 2020 to States/UTs under PMGKY for the existing 282 lakh beneficiaries of NSAP schemes.

iii. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) wage rate revised w.e.f. 1.4.2020 with average wage rate increase of Rs.20 over the wage rate of 2019-20.

Apart from this, Government of India launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) on 20th June, 2020 for a period of 125 days to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for returnee migrant workers and similarly affected citizens in rural area, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of the Abhiyaan were to provide immediate employment & livelihood opportunities to the distressed, to saturate the villages with public infrastructure and creation of livelihood assets to boost the income generation activities and enhance long term livelihood opportunities by giving focus on 25 works in 116 selected districts across 6 States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The list of these districts is available at http://gkra.nic.in. The Abhiyaan is a convergent effort of ongoing 25 schemes of 12 Ministries/ Department of Central Government. Under GKRA, a total of 50.78 crore persondays employment has been generated during the Abhiyaan with a total expenditure of Rs. 39,293 crore.

Other major steps taken by the MoRD under various schemes during the outbreak of Covid-19 are listed below. All these programmes of MoRD are being implemented for socio- economic development in rural areas.

i. Mahatma Gandhi NREGS which is a demand driven wage employment programme, provides at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. During the previous FY 2020-21, 389.17 crore person days were generated and in current financial year 2021-22 (as on 24.03.22), 350.63 crore person-days have been generated under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.

ii. PMAY-G aims to provide assistance to eligible rural households for construction of 2.95 Crore Pucca houses with basic amenities to achieve the objective of “Housing for All” in rural areas. The PMAY-G provides assistance to eligible rural households on the basis of the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), which was conducted in 2011 and the Awaas+ 2018 survey (conducted to identify eligible households claiming to be left out of SECC 2011). In the FY 2020-21, a total of 33,99,511 houses had been completed and during the current FY 2021-22 (as on 21.03.2022), a total of 38,76,243 houses have been completed under PMAY-G.

iii. PMGSY was launched in the year 2000 as a measure towards alleviation of poverty in rural areas by providing access to basic services to the rural population by providing them good quality roads. During the period of COVID, states were directed to accelerate the pace of works so as to create more employment opportunities and boost rural economy. Further, since 1st April 2020 till 17th March 2022, a total of 66,980 km roads have been sanctioned under various interventions/ verticals of PMGSY and 68,929 km have been completed.

iv. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) aims to reduce poverty by organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them to take economic activities till they attain appreciable increase in income over a period of time. During the FY 2020-21, 6.02 lakhs SHGs have been promoted and an amount of Rs. 73777.60 crores of bank loan have been disbursed to SHGs. During the current FY 2021-22 (till February 2022), a total of 5.43 lakh SHGs have been promoted and an amount of Rs. 100019.48 crores bank loan have been disbursed to SHGs.

v. There are two skill development programmes for rural poor youth under DAY-NRLM, namely, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs). Both these schemes are aimed at increasing employability of rural poor youth either for wage or self-employment. Under DDU-GKY, a total of 38289 candidates had been trained and 49563 candidates had been placed in jobs during FY 2020-21 and during the current FY 2021-22 (as on 28.02.22), a total of 52060 candidates have been trained and 24178 candidates have been placed in jobs. Under RSETI, a total of 255141 candidates had been trained and 185234 candidates had been settled during the Financial Year 2020-21 and during the current FY 2021-22 (as on 28.02.22), a total of 274960 candidates have been trained and 203785 candidates have been settled.

vi. NSAP is a social security/social welfare programme which provides financial assistance to old aged, widows, and disabled persons belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) and fulfilling eligibility criteria prescribed in the NSAP guidelines. Financial assistance is provided ranging from Rs.200/- to Rs.500/- per month and in the case of death of the breadwinner, a lump sum assistance of Rs.20,000/- is given to the bereaved family. During the FY 2020-21, 296 lakh beneficiaries have been covered and an amount of Rs.8686.60 crore have been released to States/UTs and for the current FY 2021-22( as on 16.03.2022) 298 lakh beneficiaries have been covered and Rs.6455.95 crore have been released to States/UTs for the implementation of NSAP schemes.

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