COVID-19: Robust digital infrastructure enables disbursement of over 26k cr under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana

The COVID-19 pandemic has left the poor helpless, amid non-availability of work in a lockdown situation. While scores of NGOs are working round the clock in feeding the poor and providing them with kits having essential supplies, the Government of India, apart from other efforts has also directly deposited cash in their bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).

Using the digital payment infrastructure, more than 30 crore poor people have received financial assistance of Rs 28,256 crore under the PMGKY Package announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to COVID 19.

A digital pipeline has been laid through linking of Jan-Dhan accounts as well as other accounts with the account holders’ mobile numbers and Aadhaar [Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM)]. This infrastructure pipeline is providing the necessary backbone for DBT flows, adoption of social security/pension schemes, etc.The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched in August, 2014 with an aim to provide bank accounts to unbanked persons. Out of around 126 crore operative CASA accounts as on March 20, 2020, more than 38 crore have been opened under PMJDY.

• Enablement of interoperable, speedy and accurate transactions:
  • The bank accounts are enabled to carry out both cash and digital transactions at bank branches, Business Correspondent (BC) points, merchant locations and on internet. Using biometric ID, highly cost-effective payments solutions like AePS/ Bhim Aadhaar Pay have been created both for banking services and for retail payments.

• • The Digital Payment Ecosystem includes the following modes:

1. AePS:  helps in cash withdrawal by using Aadhaar authentication at branch/BC locations.
2. Bhim Adhaar Pay:  enables payment to merchants using Aadhaar authentication
3. RuPay debit cards: As on March 31 2020, a total of 60.4crore RuPay cards have been issued including 29 crore issued in PMJDY accounts. These cards could be used at ATMs for cash withdrawal and at Points of Sale (PoS)& e-commerce for digital payments.
4. UPI: Immediate real time payment system which helps in both person to person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions.
5. BBPS: helps in payment of utility bills through internet & BC locations both by using cash & digital modes.

The following amounts have been released to beneficiaries till April 10, 2020, under the PMGK package.