New Delhi, Apr 13 (IANS): The Centre has provided financial assistance of Rs 28,256 crore to 31.77 crore beneficiaries as of April 10, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Scheme to lend support to the underpriviledged in wake of the coronavirus crisis and the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

Out of the total amount, the government has provided Rs 13,855 crore as front-loaded payments to 6.93 crore farmers under PM-KISAN.

"Using the digital payment infrastructure mentioned above, more than 30 crore poor people have received financial assistance of Rs 28,256 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 26th March to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to COVID-19," an official statement said on Sunday.

As support to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana women account holders, the government has released Rs 9,930 crore to 19.86 crore women, which is 97 per cent of the target beneficiaries, said a statement.

Further, a total of Rs 3,066 crore has been provided to 2.16 crore construction workers, it said.

Describing the major role of the digital payment infrastructure, the Finance Ministry statement said that a digital pipeline has been laid through linking of Jan-Dhan accounts as well as other accounts with the account holders' mobile numbers and Aadhaar.

"This infrastructure pipeline is providing the necessary backbone for DBT flows, adoption of social security/pension schemes, etc," it said.

A Finance Ministry tweet said that Direct Benefit Transfer ensures that the amount is directly credited into the account of the beneficiary, hence eliminates leakage and improves efficiency.

Under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), a total amount of Rs 1,405 crore has been disbursed so far to 282 crore benefiiciaries, which include widows, senior citizens and the physically challenged.