Second tranche of economic package to benefit migrant workers, small farmers: Nirmala Sitharaman

The Finance Minister said three crore marginal farmers have already availed ₹4 lakh crore of loans at concessional rates.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the second tranche of economic stimulus package will be for the benefit of migrant workers, street vendors and small farmers.

At a press conference, she said 3 crore marginal farmers have already availed ₹4 lakh crore of loans at concessional rates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a cumulative package of ₹20 lakh crore (nearly 10% of GDP) to provide relief to various segments of the economy. This included ₹1.7 lakh crore package comprising free foodgrains and cash to poor for three months announced in March, and ₹5.6 lakh crore stimulus provided through various monetary policy measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

RBI measures to benefit realty | RBI announces more measures to fight economic disruptions

The remaining of the ₹20 lakh crore package is being announced in tranches – Ms. Sitharman had in the first tranche on Wednesday unveiled a ₹5.94-lakh-crore-plan that comprises off-budget items such as ₹3 lakh crore of credit line to small businesses as support to shadow banks and electricity distributors. Off-budget items do not result in any outgo from the government exchequer but these will aid in easing liquidity constrains for businesses once the lockdown is lifted.

₹10,000-crore job work under MNREGS

FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said ₹10,000 crore has been spent in the last two months on creating 14.62 crore man-days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) to help migrant workers.

Announcing the second tranche of economic stimulus package, she said the work has been offered to 2.33 crore wage seekers till May 13. About 40-50% more persons have been enrolled as compared to May last year, she said.

On reforms in pipeline, she said the government is for universal right to minimum wages and wants to remove regional disparity through a national floor wage.

Source: Read Full Article