In order to stimulate consumer demand in the economy, the government announced on Monday a special advance plan for festivals in which all central government employees will be eligible for an interest-free loan of Rs 10,000 to be used in festival-related expenses until March 31. 2021.
The loan will be made to central government employees using a prepaid RuPay card that would be used at the point of sale machine and money cannot be withdrawn from ATMs. The loan will be paid to the government in 10 monthly installments, the government reported.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the RuPay prepaid card will remain active until March 31, 2021.
The Special Festival Advance program is a one-time advance program for central government employees and was reactivated after it was suspended after the recommendations of the Sixth Committee on Payments were accepted, Sithraman said.
Under the previous Special Festival Advance scheme, only officials who were not listed in the official gazette were eligible to take advantage of the scheme’s benefits, but this time all central government employees will be eligible for the scheme, Ms Sitharaman added.
The government also allowed its employees to spend travel allowances that are an income tax-exempt portion of their wages on goods and services, Sitharaman told a news conference.
“This is expected to create a consumer demand of approximately Rs 28 billion,” he said.
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