AMN
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveils second set of relief measures under Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. For migrants and the urban poor, government announced affordable rental accommodation.
Government funded housing in cities will be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, while both Government and Private bodies will be incentivized to develop Affordable Rental Housing Complexes on their land.
Under the MUDRA scheme, small businesses will be revamped through the 1,500 crore rupees interest subvention scheme. Government will also provide interest subvention of two per cent for the next 12 months for beneficiaries of the MUDRA-Shishu loan Yojana.
Benefitting the street vendors, special credit facility of five thousand crore rupees have been announced. The decision aimed at benefitting over 50 lakh street vendors will also provide an initial working capital of up to 10 thousand rupees to the vendors.
Ms Sitharaman informed that Government is committed to spur employment creation across the country. In it’s this endeavor, Funds from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) have been channelized to generate employment in the tribal areas of the country. The Minister informed that, proposals worth six thousand crore rupees to help generate employment for tribals for afforestation and plantation related works is already under pipeline.
In a major relief to middle income families, government also extended the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) up to March next year. This move is seen to benefit around 2.5 lakh families and will also lead to an investment of over 70 thousand crore in the housing sector. Investment in the housing sector arising out of this decision will further help in creation of jobs and will alos stimulate demand for steel, cement, transport, and other construction material.
Ms. Sitharaman also enumerated series of relief packages introduced by the government for the rural India, since the onset of COVID-19 in the country. She informed that government has sanctioned 25 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards with a loan limit of 25 thousand crore rupees.
Liquidity support has been extended to farmers by the 63 lakh loans amounting to 86 thousand 600 crore. She asserted that, refinancing of 29 thousand 500 crore by NABARD to cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks in March and support of four thousand 200 crore provided under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund has boosted the rural economy. She also made a reference of the efforts to reach out to the urban poor by permitting states to utilize the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). These funds amounting to nearly 11 thousand crore were utilized to set up shelters for migrant labourers and provide them food and water.
Finance Minister said, the Central Government is supporting number of Self-Help Groups, which are indulged in production of masks and sanitizers. She said, seven thousand 200 new self-help groups have been formed since 15th March to create employment opportunities.
Ms. Sitharaman said, the government is supporting migrant labourers who have returned to their home states by creating work under the MNREGA. Over two crore 30 lakh people have been given employment under this scheme across the different village panchayats in the country.
She also made a mention of the hike in the Average wage rate of the labourers to 202 rupees from 182 in last Financial Year. She informed that special drive has been undertaken to enroll returning migrants and provide them jobs under the MNREGA.
The Minister also highlighted some of the measures already in place to benefit workers in the country including universalization of rights of minimum wages and their timely payment, issuance of appointment letter for all workers, annual health check-up for all employees among others.