The Centre on Thursday asked the States and Union Territories to take all necessary steps for the smooth disbursement of Rs 27,500 crore to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY) through banks from Friday, amid the ongoing lockdown to combat the coronavirus threat.
In a letter to all chief secretaries, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said money will be disbursed under the PM-GKY package to a large number of beneficiaries beginning Friday. In this regard, the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, has given detailed guidelines such as staggering of account holders to avoid crowding and maintaining social distancing, publicising the modalities of staggering and cash distribution and provision of adequate security personnel at bank branches and business correspondents to maintain law and order and social distancing, reads the letter.
