When and by whom was the relief package of Rs. 1.70 Lakh Crore under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced?

When and by whom was the relief package of Rs. 1.70 Lakh Crore under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced? Correct Answer on 26 March 2020 by Nirmala Sitharaman

The correct answer is on 26 March 2020 by Nirmala Sitharaman.

• The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana on 26 March 2020 for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus. 
• The relief package was announced to help the poor and provide needy people the help required during the lockdown that started on 24 March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana was originally launched in December 2016 to collect all the undisclosed income of Indian Nationals in a bank account and use the amount for poor welfare schemes. In return, the people who deposit the money under this scheme would be exempted from prosecution and their identity would be kept a secret. This was done after the massive demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 by our PM Narendra Modi on 8 November 2016.
• Key Highlights of the massive relief package under the  Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana are: 
  • Insurance cover of Rs 50 Lakh per health worker fighting COVID-19 to be provided under the Insurance Scheme.
  • 80 crore poor people will get 5 kg of wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for three months till June 2020 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
  • 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs 500 per month for the next three months till June 2020.
  • Increase in MNREGA wage to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182 to benefit 13.62 crore families.
  • An ex gratia of Rs 1,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizens, poor widows, and poor disabled.
  • Government to front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in the first week of April under existing PM Kisan Yojana to benefit 8.7 crore farmers.
  • Central Government has given orders to State Governments to use Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to provide relief to Construction Workers.
• The relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana was primarily focused on poor people and there was hardly any provision for businesses that were hard hit during the coronavirus pandemic.
• For this purpose on 12 May 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore which is equivalent to 10 percent of India's GDP. The package was announced to cater to various sections including the cottage industry, MSMEs, laborers, middle class, industries, etc.
• With this package, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan which translates to self-reliant India or self-sufficient India, is the vision of making India a bigger and more important part of the global economy, pursuing policies that are efficient, competitive, and resilient, and being self-sustaining and self-generating. 
• On 8 July, Cabinet also approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana – allocation of additional foodgrain for a further five months from July to November 2020.

Link: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1608345