Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second tranche of the contours of India’s massive Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal stimulus announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
FM Sitharaman said the announcements will be made in tranches. Today's second tranche of announcements focused on migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, self employed people, small farmers.
The announcements on May 13 included six measures for MSMEs, 2 for EPF, 2 for NBFCs and MFIs, 1 for discoms, 1 for contractors, 1 for real estate sector, and 3 tax measures.
The financial stimulus announced by PM Modi on May 12 is almost 10 percent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and comes as the country battles the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
This Rs 20 lakh crore figure, however, includes the previous Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since lockdown began on March 24 midnight. These earlier measures now together account to Rs 7.79 lakh crore of the complete package.
PM Narendra Modi Ji's AatmaNirbharBharatPackage will help migrant labourers, farmers, vendors & businesses recover from COVID related losses. Announcements made today by FM Nirmala Sitharaman ji will enhance Ease of Living for disadvantaged sections and make them self-reliant.
Thirdly, additional measures have been taken for the benefit of migrant labourers who have lost their livelihood which includes provisions of free food grains through PDS for 2 months. Further, a special credit facility is proposed for street vendors for an aggregate amount of Rs. 5,000 Cr which will provide some relief to a section of urban poor whose businesses have been severely disrupted by the lockdown. This may also benefit some MFIs whose loans to such borrowers are likely to face potential stress.An efficient technology-driven platform for disbursals of the loans, however, will be the key to the success of the street vendor scheme.
The government has also announcedadditional working capital funding for farmers of Rs. 30,000 Cr by NABARD over and above the Rs. 90,000 Crthat has already been provided by the latter for FY21. These will be disbursed through rural co-operative banks and will support the farmers for the kharif crop where sowing will start shortly. The scope of Kisan Credit Card has been further expanded to provide concessional credit of Rs. 2 Lakh Cr to not only farmers but also to those engaged in fisheries and animal husbandry. The latter segment has been partly affected by the decline in demand brought about by the lockdown disruption.Such timely credit to agriculture and allied activities will ensure sustainability of agricultural incomes and also continuation of agricultural output that is critical for food inflation control.
Today’s announcement by the Finance Minister primarily is intended for three segments of the population – the middle-income group, the farmers and the daily wage labourers particularly the migrants whose livelihood have been significantly affected by the Covid lockdown.
Theextension of the PMAY Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) till March 2021 supported by an allocation of Rs. 70,000 Cr for interest subsidy on home loans for mid-income borrowers (Rs. 6-18 lakhs pa) is expected to revive the demand for affordable housingin the current year. Thisshould provide some relief to the residential real estate sector and improve their cash flows in the second half of FY21.However, the administration of the scheme needs to be made efficient for genuine buyers to avail the scheme.
The announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today for labourers, farmers and the poor are historic and unprecedented. These steps will strengthen people in rural areas who will contribute to make India self-reliant. (ANI)
Today’s announcements by FM Nirmala Sitharaman will especially benefit our farmers and migrant workers. The announcements include a series of progressive measures and will boost food security, credit to farmers as well as street vendors.
The second round of the Stimulus announcements expectedly deals with ways to alleviate the hardships caused to the farmers, migrant workers and street vendors due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown restrictions. A special drive to provide concessional credit to PM-Kisan beneficiaries, extension of interest subvention schemes for farmers at concessional rates, liquidity support for farmers and rural economy, extension of credit linked subsidy scheme for affordable housing for middle income groups are some intended ways to provide relief to these categories.
The series of financial impetus by the Hon’ble Finance Minister to various economic sectors is most welcoming. The government has rightfully identified the agricultural sector as one of most impacted and the 2 lakh Cr loan to the Indian farmers is a big relief to the sector. As India moves towards a new economic revival with the spirit of self-reliance infused by Hon’ble PM, the agricultural sector has to be rapidly modernised and digitalised to have a supply chain continuity going on the face of any future crisis. We are committed towards these goals in connecting various stakeholders and look forward to further announcements from the government tomorrow.
I am confident that the relief announced by Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Ji will provide immediate relief to millions of farmers, street vendors and people from different walks of life.
806 Shramik Special trains have been run so far for 10 lakh migrants. The state and Centre are working together to ensure migrants return to their home states. There are 1,200 Shramik Special trains available and ready to ply. Everyday, at least 300 trains can run. For this, the Centre is spending 85% and states are spending 15%. The state government has to ask for trains after which the Centre takes about 3-5 hours to arrange the same: Sitharaman
