Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been releasing the details of the ₹20 lakh crore economic package in tranches. The main aim of releasing the mega economic package is to make India self-reliant. Yesterday, Sitharaman announced 15 relief measures for the real estate sector, NBFCs, MSMEs, etc. Today, she made announcements for the welfare of urban poor, farmers, and laborers.
Important announcements in Sitharaman’s press conference
Sitharaman announced that 300 Shramik special trains are allowed to run daily. The ‘Kisan Credit Card’ scheme will now be available for animal husbandry farmers and fishermen. Around 2.5 crore farmers will get a concessional credit boost of ₹2 lakh crore. In addition, the farmers will get an emergency fund of ₹30,000 crores via NABARD. The CAMPA funds of ₹6000 crores will help to push employment for tribals. The government has made arrangements for the lower middle class (the ones who earn ₹6-18 lakh annual income) regarding affordable housing. The CLSS scheme for affordable housing will extend up to March 2021 for them. As there are about 50 lakh street vendors, Sitharaman announced a special credit facility of around ₹500 crores for the street vendors. This scheme is set to launch within a month.
For MUDRA-Shishu loans, there will be an interest subvention of ₹1500 crore. The government will launch an ‘affordable rental housing’ scheme for the urban poor and migrant workers. Sitharaman also announced concessional rental housing complexes for migrant workers. Thus, the migrant workers will have the ease of living. The government will provide each non-PDS cardholder (total 8 crores) with 5 kg of grains. There will be a removal of the regional disparity in minimum wages. The government has advised the states to provide work to the laborers under the MGNREGA scheme. Therefore, most of the laborers will likely not face unemployment after the lockdown ends. There are plans to introduce ‘one nation, one ration card’ within August.
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