Context: Recently,the Union government has announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and countrywide lockdown, providing free food and cash transfers to support the poorest citizens who are most vulnerable during the crisis.
Components of the New release Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package

• PM Garib Kalyan Yojana will include cash transfers to the poor and migrants.
• About 80 crore people will come under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (food scheme). 
• Everyone under this scheme will get 5 kg of wheat/rice for free in addition to what they are already getting under NFSA.
• The government will also give 1 kg of one choice of pulse to each household under this scheme for the next three months. People can take it in two installments as well.

Cash transfers Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

• Farmers receive Rs 6,000 every year through the PM-KISAN scheme. The government will now be giving the first instalment upfront. About 8.69 crore farmers are expected to benefit from this immediately.
• 20 crore woman Jan Dhan account holders to be given ex-gratia amount of 500 rupees per month for the next three months, to run the affairs of their household.
• The government expects that wage increase under MNREGA will benefit 5 crore families. The wage increase will amount into an additional income of Rs 2,000 per worker.
• The government will offer cash transfer through DBT (direct benefit transfer) in in eight parts: Farmers, MNREGA, widows, poor pensioners, divyang, women under Jan Dhan Yojana, women and households under Ujjwala scheme, self-help groups for women including those under the livelihood mission, organised sector workers under EPFO, construction workers and district mineral funds.
• ‘Divyangs’, poor senior citizens, widows will get Rs 1,000 over the next three months.

Insurance Scheme for Health Workers

• The Centre would provide Rs. 50 lakh medical insurance cover for the next three months for about 22 lakh health workers in government hospitals fighting the spread of the virus at personal risk.
• The health workers include ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, medical sanitary workers in government hospitals, paramedics, nurses and doctors.
• For 63 lakh SHGs, which help 7 crore households, the government is doubling collateral-free loans to Rs 20 lakh.
• About 8.3 crore families below poverty line will get free LPG cylinders for three months.

Other Components

• Employees’ Provident Fund Regulations will be amended to include Pandemic as the reason to allow non-refundable advance of 75 percent of the amount or three months of the wages, whichever is lower, from their accounts.This will benefit 4.8 crore workers who are registered with EPF and in a position to withrdraw money.
• Welfare Fund for Building and Other Constructions Workers: State Governments will be given directions to utilise this fund to provide assistance and support to these workers to protect them against economic disruptions.

Criticism of this move

• The Rs 1.7 lakh crore economic package announced for the vulnerable sections — farmers, women, construction workers, senior citizens, widows and the disabled — is less than 1 per cent of India’s GDP.
• The issue at hand is not just the size of the package relative to the GDP but the urgency of monetary transfer to unorganised sector workers, who have not only lost their jobs and income, but also face a massive health scare.

Concerns and Challenges ahead

• There is no evidence that the government has a plan for unorganised sector workers such as dhobis, rickshaw pullers, barbers, rural labourers, etc, even if they are registered with state governments. Neither for construction workers who are not registered with states. Workers in both these segments will not be eligible for any payout.
• The strength of the unorganised sector force stood at 47.41 crore, according to the NSSO’s Employment and Unemployment Survey, 2011-12. While the Labour Ministry does not keep data on migrant workers, the Economic Survey in the past had assumed it at 20 per cent of the total workforce.