Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced nine more steps as part of the Modi government’s economic package to withstand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on India’s economy. Thursday’s announcements related to migrant workers, street vendors and farmers.
Here are the steps:
Sitharaman announced that interest subvention for loans to farmers has been extended to 31 May, 2020.
States and Union Territories have been advised to provide work to migrant workers as per the provisions of MNREGA, the minister said. She also said that Rs 11,000 crore has been given to states for taking care of migrant workers and others.
The minister announced that free food grains will be provided to migrants for the next two months and Rs 3,500 crore will be spent on this intervention. The state governments will be responsible for implementation, identification of migrants and full distribution.
The government also announced a ‘one nation, one ration’ card. National portability will cover 67 crore beneficiaries in 23 states by August this year, the finance minister added.
The government also announced that 7,200 Self Help Groups (SHGs) have been formed in the last two months.