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State of the Economy 15

actions to provide a cushion against pandemic induced shocks while flexibly adapting to an
evolving situation.

1.22 In early 2020, when the first wave of the pandemic was making its way around the world,
the Government focused on saving lives through emergency policy actions. The first among these
actions was the imposition of a stringent lockdown in March 2020 when cases were still few.
This provided the necessary time to ramp up testing infrastructure, create quarantine facilities
and so on. Most importantly, it gave time to understand the COVID-19 virus, its symptoms and
how it spread.

1.23 The government recognised that lockdowns and quarantines disrupt economic activity.
Therefore, it quickly put in place economic safety nets comprised of world’s largest free food
program, direct cash transfers and relief measures for small businesses (details in Table 5). The
Reserve Bank of India simultaneously provided monetary support to the economy. Many of
these safety net provisions continued during the second wave and have been extended further
as appropriate. This was combined with a rapid ramp-up of the vaccination programme as
discussed later in the chapter.

Table 5: Key Safety Net Measures to Prevent Distress during COVID-19
`500/month for 3 months to women l `30,944 crore released to 20.64 crore
Jan Dhan Account holders women beneficiaries
Cash
Transfers `1000 to vulnerable sections l `2814 crore released covering 2.82
(widows, Divyangs, elderly) crore beneficiaries
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman l ` 1.8 lakh crore transferred to more
Nidhi (PM-KISAN)- `6000/- per than 10 crore farmer families as on
year in three instalments 1.1.2022, since Feb 2019, i.e., 6
instalments since COVID-19
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan l Launched in March 2020, extended till
Anna Yojana - Additional free- March 2022 under Phase-V
of-cost food grains to 80 Crore l From Mar-2020 to Nov-2021, 600
National Food Security Act (NFSA) LMT foodgrains allocated to States/
beneficiaries @ 5 Kg per person per UTs equivalent to ` 2.07 Lakh Crore
month, over and above the regular in food subsidy
monthly NFSA foodgrains
Food Security One Nation One Ration Card to l Enabled in 34 States/UTs by August
ensure PDS benefit for people in 2021 covering 94.3 per cent National
transit, especially migrant workers. Food Security Act population

l 24.32 crore portability transactions
carried out between 1.4.2020 and
30.9.2021
Cooking gas cylinders under l 3 free cylinders to 8 crore beneficiaries
Ujjawala for April to June 2020.

l First refill and hotplate free under
Ujjwala 2.0 (launched 10.8.2021) with
simpler procedures