As informed by banks, as on 24.02.2021, 41.93 crore accounts have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). State-wise number of accounts under PMJDY as on 24.02.2021 is at

Annexure.

This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Giving more details, the Minister stated that the Government had announced a ₹ 1.70 lakh crore ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana’ relief package on 26.03.2020 to combat the economic impact of COVID-19 on the poor and needy and to help them in the fight against Corona Virus. The salient features of the package were:

• Comprehensive personal accident insurance cover of ₹ 50 lakh for health workers fighting COVID-19.
• Additional allocation of food grain @ 5 kg per person and pulses @ 1 kg per family per month free of cost to all beneficiaries covered under the targeted public distribution system.
• Front loading and payment in April, 2020 itself of the first instalment of ₹ 2,000 due in 2020-21 to about 8.7 crore farmers under the PM KISAN Yojana.
• An ex-gratia of ₹ 500 per month for three months to 20.40 crore (approx) women PMJDY account-holders and release of ₹ 1000/- to around 3 crore aged widows and persons in Divyang category.
• Free of cost LPG cylinders to 8 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
• Providing 24% of the monthly wages into PF accounts of wage-earners earning below ₹ 15,000 per month, in businesses with less than 100 workers, for three months to prevent disruption in employment.
• Increasing (i) MNREGA wages by ₹ 20 w.e.f. 01.04.2020 and (ii) Limit of collateral free lending from ₹ 10 to ₹ 20 lakh for women organized through 63 lakh Self Help Groups who support 6.85 crore households.
• Amendment to Employees’ Provident Fund Regulations to include Pandemic as the reason to allow non-refundable advance of 75% of the amount or three months wages, whichever is lower, from their accounts.
• Directions issued to State Governments to utilize:

a. Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Fund for assistance and support to around 3.5 Crore registered workers &

b. District Mineral Fund for supplementing and augmenting facilities of medical testing, screening and other requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic as well as treat the patients affected with this pandemic.

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RM/KMN

Social relief package channels food, cash transfers, insurance and employment protections through financial inclusion accounts. The Government announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to mitigate COVID-19's economic impact by deploying PMJDY accounts and existing welfare schemes to provide insurance for health workers, additional free foodgrain and pulses, advance and direct cash transfers to farmers and vulnerable account-holders, free LPG refills for beneficiaries, employer provident fund contributions for low-wage workers, increased rural wages and higher collateral-free lending for women's self-help groups, a provident fund amendment allowing pandemic advances, and directions to states to use welfare and district mineral funds for pandemic response.