What were the highlights of the relief package announced by the Finance Minister on 26 March 2020 for the poor and middle class during the lockdown?

The key highlights of the relief package announced by the FM are as under:

· The size of the package has been set at Rs.1.7 lakh crore ($22 billion) under the Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana including cash transfers and free resources

· Building and construction workers to be given Rs.31,000 crore via state governments

· EPFO to allow lower of 75% non-refundable advance or 3 months wages. EPFO contributions for 3 months to be done by governments for incomes less than Rs.15,000.

· A total of 8.3 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries to get free cooking gas (LPG) cylinders for the next three months

· Collateral-free loan doubled to Rs.20 lakh to 63 lakh women self-help groups (SHG) and this is likely to indirectly about 7 crore households

· Ex-gratia of Rs.1,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizen, poor widows and poor disabled with women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs.500/month for home expenses

· A total of 8.69 crore farmers to be benefited through cash transfers. Instalment of Rs.2000 to be done in first week of April to every MNREGA worker too

· PM Garib Ann Yojna to give additional 5 KG of rice or wheat and 1 kg dal in addition to the existing scheme

· Very importantly, all health workers to get medical insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh under a floating health cover

· The package will be focused on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and daily wage workers besides injecting liquidity in the market, ANI said.

The cost of the COVID-19 lockdown has been pegged at Rs.9 lakh crore or 4% of GDP.