Ramakanta Biswas

Bhubaneswar: Amid Coronavirus outbreak, as many as 39.51 lakh women Jan Dhan account holders in Odisha are all set to get monthly financial assistance of Rs 500 in the first phase under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).

According to sources, the women beneficiaries will get SMS alert after the cash benefit is transferred to their bank accounts through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode. The beneficiaries can withdraw the cash from the ATM counters and micro ATM kiosks at petrol pumps by following necessary Covid-19 regulations.

The government has urged the beneficiaries to take precautionary measures while withdrawing the cash from the ATM kiosks. They have been advised to wash their hands properly before and after the withdrawal of the cash. The women beneficiaries have also been asked to adopt safety measures like social distancing while visiting the ATM counters for withdrawing the cash.

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Speaking about the financial assistance at a presser, Praveena Kala, Chief General Manager (CGM), SBI Bhubaneswar circle, said, “The Centre has assured to provide cash incentive under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to help women fight the battle against coronavirus. The cash will be transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through DBT mode. In the first phase, the Rs 500 cash incentive will be transferred to the bank accounts of women entrepreneurs.”

Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana to help all those needy people whose livelihood has been hit hard due to the coronavirus lockdown in the country. As part of the relief package, Sitharaman announced that 20 crore women of Jan Dhan Account holders will get Rs 500 per month for next three months to help them run their households.

Read More: COVID-19 Outbreak: G20 Announces $5 Trillion To Deal With Coronavirus Crisis

Among other announcements, the government will provide relief to farmers affected due to the lockdown. The Centre said it will transfer in the first week of April the first installment of Rs 2,000 to each of 8.69 crore beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme.

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