New Delhi: The government on Thursday announced a Rs 3.16 lakh crore package of free foodgrains for migrant workers, concessional credit to farmers and working capital loan for street vendors as part of the second tranche of fiscal stimulus to heal an economy hit hard by coronavirus lockdown.
At a news conference, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 8 crore migrant workers will get 5 kgs of grains and 1 kg of pulses free for two months, while 50 lakh street vendors rendered jobless by the lockdown would be given a working capital loan of Rs 10,000 each.
As many as 2.5 crore farmers will be provided Rs 2 lakh crore of concessional credit through Kisan Credit Cards.
Also for post-harvest (Rabi) and current Kharif crop requirements in May and June, NABARD will provide Rs 30,000 crore additional emergency working capital funding for farmers through rural cooperative banks and regional rural banks.
Sitharaman said the central government will bear Rs 3,500 crore cost of giving free foodgrain and pulses to migrant workers. State governments will be responsible for implementation, identification of migrants and full distribution.
Read more:1st instalment of stimulus puts almost no financial burden on exchequer
Also to benefit of migrant workers, the government plans to allow inter-state portability of ration cards under public distribution system (PDS) so as to allow them to use their cards anywhere to get benefit.
For small businesses, the minister announced a 2 per cent interest subvention under MUDRA-Shishu loans of up to Rs 50,000. This would cost the government Rs 1,500 crore.
For street vendors, the working capital loan would cost Rs 5,000 crore.
She also announced Rs 6,000 crore employment push, using Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a cumulative package of Rs 20 lakh crore (nearly 10 per cent of GDP) to provide relief to various segments of the economy. This included Rs 1.7 lakh crore package comprising of free foodgrains and cash to poor for three months announced in March, and Rs 5.6 lakh crore stimulus provided through various monetary policy measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
(With PTI Inputs)
