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COVID-19: Relief Packages Announced By State Governments So Far
Updated on: Feb 15th, 2024
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16 min read
The Centre has announced a number of initiatives under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana to reduce the burden on the poor sections of the society during the lockdown. A relief package of Rs.1.70 lakh crore was allotted in the form of food security as well as a direct benefit for farmers, poor senior citizens, poor widows, poor divyangs, self-help groups, construction workers, and others.
In addition to the Centre’s package, each state of the country has announced a relief package focusing on the most affected sectors of their respective states. Societal segments, such as construction workers, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, washermen, barbers, house helps, fishermen, and more have received the relief packages in the form of financial assistance, penal interest waiver, and rebates on bills. The funds for these packages have been taken from the Chief Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund pertaining to each state.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the states, beneficiaries, and the benefits offered for your understanding:
| Sl. No. | State Affected | Beneficiary of Relief Package | Relief Provided | Other Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Maharashtra | Construction Workers | Rs.2,000/worker | Relief paid to workers registered with the Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board |
| 2. | New Delhi | Drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles | Rs.5,000 | This is a one-time payment for drivers of auto-rickshaws, taxis, Gramin Sewa, Phatphat Sewa, maxi cab, Eco-friendly Sewa, e-rickshaws, and school vans. |
| Health workers, including sanitation workers, doctors, and nurses | Rs.1 crore/family | Health workers who die treating coronavirus patients are called ‘martyrs’ and their families will be given Rs.1 crore | ||
| 3. | West Bengal | Migrant workers and their families stranded outside the state | Financial aid | - |
| 4. | Tamil Nadu | Low-income groups, agricultural labourers, senior citizens, auto-rickshaw drivers, construction workers, and daily wagers | Rs.1,000 | A relief package of Rs.3,280 crore has been announced |
| 5. | Karnataka | Washermen, barbers, auto-rickshaw drivers, and taxi drivers | Rs.5,000 | One-time compensation |
| Flower growers | Rs.25,000/hectare | In the background of flowers grown on 11,687 hectares being destroyed | ||
| MSMEs | - | Electricity bills will be waived for two months | ||
| Large industries | - | Payment of fixed charges in the electricity bills deferred without penalty and interest for two months | ||
| Construction labourers | Additional Rs.3,000 | Assistance of Rs.2,000 was already provided; additional assistance of Rs.3,000 will be distributed again | ||
| Weavers | Rs.2,000 | About 54,000 handloom weavers get the assistance under Weaver Samman Yojana | ||
| 6. | Telangana | White ration cardholders | Rs.1,500/family | Cash will be provided along with 12kg rice/person |
| Migrant workers | 12kg rice and Rs.500/person | Over 34,000 workers identified under GHMC received the much-needed aid | ||
| 7. | Gujarat | Labourers, unorganised workers, construction workers, and house-helps | Rs.1,000 for April 2020 | A total of Rs.650 crore package for 65 lakh families |
| State government employees and front-line staff, such as police personnel, health and sanitation workers, revenue and food supply department staff, and fair price shopkeepers | Rs.25 lakh | If they contract COVID-19 while performing their duty and succumb to it | ||
| Gaushalas and cattle ponds | Rs.25/animal for April 2020 | Provided to all gaushalas and cattle ponds in the state | ||
| 8. | Andhra Pradesh | Fishermen stuck in Gujarat | Rs.2,000/person | One-time assistance is given to each of the 6,000 fishermen stuck in Gujarat |
| Underprivileged people | Rs.1,000/family | Free ration and cash for the poor on account of lockdown | ||
| 9. | Rajasthan | Front-line health workers | Rs.50 lakh | An insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh to the kin of front-line workers in the case of death due to COVID-19 |
| 10. | Kerala | Families who do not receive social security pension | Rs.1,000 each | |
| Social security pension subscribers | Advance payment of pension amount for two months | |||
| State residents | Rs.25 meals to be available at Rs.20 | 1,000 subsidised food stalls scheduled to start by September has started operations in April | ||
| State residents | Food kits | 87 lakh families receive food kits comprising 16 items each, worth Rs.1,000, in a phased manner in April 2020 (includes essentials, such as wheat flour, rava, black channa, and sunflower oil among others) | ||
| Auto rickshaw and bus operators | - | Fitness fee for auto rickshaw will be relaxed, stage carriage and contract carriage in buses will be tax-deductible, and stage carriers will get a one-month exemption for three months’ tax | ||
| Businessmen and traders | Due date extension | Due date for renewal of license under the Kerala Money Lenders&quo; Act and the due date for submission of Audit Certificates is extended up to 31 May 2020 | ||
| Businessmen and traders | Due date extension | Due date for online renewal of registration under the Kerala General Sales Tax is extended up to 31 May 2020 | ||
| 11. | Madhya Pradesh | Labourers in the unorganised sector | Rs.1,000/person | The assistance is provided through Sannirman Karmkar Mandal |
| Shariya, Baiga, and Bhariya tribal communities | Rs.2,000/family | Provided as an advance | ||
| Primary school students | Rs.155 | Since schools are closed and 65.91 lakh students do not get mid-day meals, this aid was announced | ||
| Middle-school students | Rs.232 | |||
| Farmers | Uninterrupted supply of seeds and fertilizers | - | ||
| 12. | Uttar Pradesh | Daily wagers, including street vendors, auto drivers, e-rickshaw drivers, porters working in agricultural wholesale markets, and rickshaw pullers | Rs.1,000/person | A total of 4,81,755 daily wagers get the benefit of the package |
| 13. | Punjab | Domestic, commercial, and small power industrial consumers | Electricity bill due date extension | Due date for consumers having monthly/bi-monthly electricity bills up to Rs.10,000 was extended from 20 March 2020 to 15 April 2020 without late payment fees |
| Stage and contract carriage vehicles | 100% exemption from motor vehicle tax | These vehicles are not allowed on roads during the lockdown. | ||
| Motor vehicle users | Extension in due date for motor vehicle tax payment | The due date for all taxes payable under the Punjab Motor Vehicle Tax Act is extended until 30 April 2020 | ||
| Farmers | Penal interest on crop loan waived off | Penal interest on crop loans have been waived off for March and April 2020 | ||
| Construction workers | Rs.3,000 | Financial assistance is provided to the registered construction workers | ||
| Healthcare workers | Rs.4,000/family | Relief package is to help healthcare workers and PDMA cope with the pandemic | ||
| 14. | Haryana | Construction workers | Rs.1,000/family/week | About 3,50,621 workers benefit from this relief package |
| Industrial consumers | Rebate of Rs.1,000 on electricity bills | Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission offers a rebate of Rs.10,000 on fixed charges in the electricity bill for the month of March and April | ||
| 15. | Bihar | Needy families that do or do not have ration cards | Rs.1,000/family | In the case of families that don’t have ration cards, they must be identified by self-help groups of ‘Jeevika’ in the state |
| #rowspan# | Migrant workers, students, and other people returning to the state | Rs.500 + reimbursement of train and other fares | - | |
| 16. | Odisha | Poorer sections of the state | Rs.1,000 | 94 lakh beneficiaries under the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department get cash assistance |
| Construction workers | Rs.1,500 | 22 lakh workers get the assistance | ||
| Street vendors | Rs.3,000 | 65,000 vendors across 114 urban local bodies get this financial aid | ||
| Underprivileged people | Rs.1,000 | Financial assistance is provided for 94 lakh families | ||
| Construction workers | Rs.1,500 | Relief package is provided as construction work is paused during the lockdown | ||
| Senior citizens, widows, physically challenged, and destitute | Four months’ pension paid in advance | Those above 60 years of age get Rs.500/month as pension and those above 80 years get Rs.700/month | ||
| 17. | Chattisgarh | School children | Ration instead of mid-day meals | Rice and dal are supplied to school students for the holiday period |
| Staff of health department engaged in treating coronavirus infections | Special allowance | Special allowance is provided as a gesture of goodwill for fighting the pandemic | ||
| Licence holders, permit holders, and property taxpayers | Extension in due date | Time limit to renew licences and permits increased by a month in urban bodies; last date to pay property tax extended from 31 March 2020 to 30 April 2020 | ||
| Farmers | Compensation for crops | Rs.10,000 per acre of paddy, Rs.13,000 per acre for maize, and Rs.10,000-Rs.15,000 per acre for sugarcane | ||
| 18. | Himachal Pradesh | Construction workers | Rs.2,000 | One-time relief fund for workers registered with Building and Construction Workers’ Board |
| Social security pension holders, including widows and disabled people | Rs.3,000 | The first quarter pension was released in the first week of April 2020 | ||
| 19. | Assam | People stranded in the other states of India | Rs.2,000/person | 99,758 people were identified to be eligible to receive the assistance |
| People stranded abroad | $1,000/person/month | 34 Assamese people have received the assistance in two installments in March and April 2020 | ||
| 20. | Tripura | Financially weak APL families, newspaper hawkers | Rs.1,000 | - |
| 21. | Meghalaya | People stranded in other states of the country, i.e. workers, students, and professionals | Rs.3,000 | 1,617 people from the state are stranded elsewhere |
| Wage earners, daily labourers, and petty traders | Rs.700/week | Financial relief is provided as they are out of work during the lockdown | ||
| 22. | Puducherry | Ration cardholders | Rs.2,000 | As compensation for the loss of livelihood |
| Construction workers | Rs.2,000 | |||
| Unorganised labourers | Rs.1,000 | |||
| 23. | Goa | Construction workers | Rs.4,000 | The one-time relief is provided to workers registered construction workers |
| 24. | Manipur | People stranded in other parts of the country | Rs.2,000 | Funds will be transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account directly |
| 25. | Arunachal Pradesh | People stranded in other parts of the country | Rs.3,500/person | - |
| Farmers | Rs.1,000/person | The relief is provided in addition to the funds distributed by the Centre to each farmer registered under the PM-KISAN scheme | ||
| 26. | Sikkim | Labourers working in pharma companies working through the lockdown period | Rs.30/day | Daily wages were set for the lockdown period |
| #rowspan# | Sikkim police personnel, workers of health department and check posts, truck drivers, and safai karamcharis engaged in emergency duty during lockdown | Rs.3,000/person | One-time lump sum incentive is provided to lift the morale of workers who are performing emergency duty during the crisis | |
| Front-line workers | Insurance | Insurance cover is provided to all front-line workers | ||
| 27. | Nagaland | Stranded workers and professionals | Rs.4,000 | A total of 2,305 students, 7,380 working professionals, and 115 stranded patients are to receive the relief packages |
| Stranded students | Rs.3,000 | |||
| COVID-19 patient stranded outside the state | Rs.20,000 |
The funds in the CM’s COVID-19 Relief Fund is a collection of donations from the public. Many organisations have also been volunteering to provide necessary help for those in need. Irrespective of the funds released, help provided, and the relief packages announced, numerous people are still struggling to lead a normal daily life. Let us hope for the COVID-19 nightmare to end soon.
Quick Summary
Various relief packages have been announced by the Centre and state governments in India to aid the poor segments during the lockdown due to COVID-19. Funds were allocated for food security, financial assistance, and relief benefits for different societal segments. Different states rolled out their assistance packages with benefits tailored to the most affected sectors. The relief packages aim to alleviate the financial strain on vulnerable groups during the pandemic.
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