NEW DELHI : The government is trying to pull out all the stops to expedite cash transfers into the rural economy by leveraging the direct benefit transfer (DBT) architecture.
Given the exodus of millions of workers from cities to their villages, the situation in India’s hinterlands warrant all possible help as farm gate prices have collapsed and cash is unavailable.
The hardships may be further exacerbated as this is the harvesting season for winter crops and mandis, or farmers’ marketplace, need to be readied for sale of produce.
India rolled out a ₹1.7 trillion relief package under a newly-framed Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana on 26 March, amounting to about 1% of its gross domestic product.