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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the media to provide details of the government package “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” to help the economy combat the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the multi-week blockade. The measures are part of the fiscal and monetary package worth Rs 20 lakh crore announced on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the economy, which has been battered by the ongoing blockade to curb the spread of the deadly disease COVID- 19. The government has already raised its indebtedness plan for the current financial year to Rs 12 lakh crore from Rs 7.8 lakh crore previously budgeted to compensate for the falling revenue and finance additional expenses. Economists say more clarity about the financing of any new government-announced measures will be closely watched.
Here are the highlights of what the Minister of Finance said:
- Today we announce more steps under the PM Garib Kalyan scheme
- Today’s measures focused primarily on migrant workers, street vendors, and small merchants.
- We will announce 9 steps today
- 3 related to migrant workers
- 1 Shishu loan scheme within MUDRA
- 1 street vendors
- 1 home
- 1 generation of employment for tribes
- 2 farmers, small farmers in particular
- Farmer Loan Interest Grant Plan Extended Through May 31
- Liquidity support for farmers and the rural economy has been going on for the past 2 months.
- Activities through banks have been going on; 63 lakh loans worth Rs 86,600 crore approved between March 1 and April 30
- NABARD extended support of Rs 4.2 billion through RIDF
- Rs 6.7 billion rupees of working capital provided to states in March
- In the past two months, the government transferred Rs 11,000 crore through SDRF to the states for migrant workers
- Three meals are provided daily to homeless people living in urban areas
- 12,000 self-help groups have produced more than 3 crore masks during the COVID-19 blockade
- The government participated in the formation of 7,200 new self-help groups for the urban poor since March 15
- It has already generated 14.62 million million days of work so far this month (until May 13), an increase of 40-50% compared to May 2019
- 2.33 million people seeking wages looking for work under the MGNREGS employment guarantee scheme
- The government will increase the allocation of funds to MNREGS if necessary
- Currently, minimum wages cover 30% of workers; government working to extend this to all workers
- Working with states to establish a national minimum wage
- State Employees Insurance Corporation (ESIC) benefit for everyone who works in hazardous conditions
- All occupations must be open to women with night work rights.
- Revenue secretary to explain recent announcements about TDS and TCS tax cuts
- Free supply of food grains to all migrants for the next two months.
- supply of 5 kg of wheat or 1 kg of extended rice to cardholders
- food supply for the next 2 months should help 8 million migrants
- Launch of an affordable rental housing plan for the urban poor.
- Rs 30,000 crore of additional liquidity for farmers through NABARD
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