File image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Source: PTI)
6 years ago
May 15, 2020
India Covid-19 Relief Package: Nirmala Sitharaman has unveiled the second tranche of India's Covid-19 relief package aimed at migrant workers and farmers. Here's a look at the key highlights of the announcements made today.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled Thursday the second tranche of India’s Rs 20-lakh-crore Covid-19 relief package, with a focus on migrant workers, farmers and urban poor. Wednesday’s announcements focused on small businesses, non-bank lenders and the power sector.
Out of the Rs 20 lakh crore, measures worth 15.57 lakh crore have now been unveiled, including Rs 7.09 lakh in stimuli announced by the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry in the early days of India’s coronavirus lockdown.
Here are the key highlights of today’s announcements:
Free food grain supply for two months for those migrants that are neither covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 or hold a state beneficiary card.
Technology systems being put into place to enable usage of ration cards for procuring food at any fair price shop in India.
Will launch a scheme for providing affordable rental housing accomodation for migrant labourers and urban poor.
Interest subvention of 2 percent for 12 months on MUDRA-Shishu loans—that are below Rs 50,000.
Special loans of up to Rs 10,000 to provide working capital for street vendors to restart business.
Extending credit-linked subsidy scheme—that subsidizes interest rates on affordable home loans—for middle-income families till March 2021.
Government will use CAMPA funds of Rs 6,000 crore to push employment.
Additional Rs 30,000 crore to be provided for crop loans through NABARD.
Concessional credit of up to Rs 2 lakh crore for Kisan Credit Card holders.
Read on for the details of the announcements made today:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that today's announcements will focus on migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, small farmers and self-employed people.
The finance minister said that 14.62 crore person-days of work have been generated till May 13, 2020 at an expenditure of about Rs 10,000 crore.
Work has been offered to 2.33 crore wage seekers in 1.87 lakh gram panchayats. Over 40-50 percent more people have been enrolled in May, compared to last year.
This is to ensure that the migrant workers that are returning back to home states are not out of work there.
Work during monsoon will also be actively taken up, Sitharaman said.
▪️ Free Food grain supply to #Migrants for 2 months ▪️ About 8 crores migrants to benefit from this ▪️ Rs. 3500 Crore will be spent on this intervention for 2 months: @nsitharaman
