Shivani Thakur
Published on: April 25, 2022, at 18:20 IST
The Delhi High Court issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Constitutional Validity of Provisions of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), the Central Government’s relief package for the poor and victims of COVID-19.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana is a scheme announced by the Centre during the nationwide lockdown imposed in March 2020.
Petition has raised two specific issues – cash transfers of ₹500 per month into the account of women holding Jan Dhan accounts and the provision of free cylinders to subscribers of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
“In light of the mandate of Union Government to use Direct Benefit Transfer mechanism to directly transfer funds/subsidy/welfare measures into the accounts of poor/needy persons, there is an immediate need to ease the process of opening of/conversion into Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana accounts.
“Crores of intended beneficiaries have been excluded from availing the benefit of subsidies, Direct Benefit Transfer scheme benefits or services solely for the reason that they are not active Jan Dhan account holders,” the Plea said.
The Plea also stated that this is discriminatory as it excludes from its ambit the below poverty line families who are not subscribers of the Ujjwala scheme that was introduced in 2016.
The Petitioner said this is Violation of Article 14 and 21of the Constitution of India.
The Court gave respondent eight weeks’ time to File Responses.
The Court adjourned the matter till October 20.
