India focuses on farmers, migrants in stimulus plan
dubai -- India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the second tranche of the ₹20 trillion fiscal stimulus on Thursday, offering ₹2.0 trillion concessional credit for farmers and ₹700 billion boost for middle income housing as well as free food grains to migrants for the next two months to help them cope with the impact of the lockdown.
Addressing her second press conference in two days, Sitharaman said the government has been facing criticism for its handling of the migrant crisis as hundreds of thousands still continue to walk back hundreds of kilometers to their home states as their income dried up because of the lockdown.
“There is a legitimate concern about migrants returning to their home states. We are attending to migrants, we are not boasting,” the finance minister said.
The minister said 30 million marginal farmers have already availed ₹4.0 trillion loans on concessional rates. For the employment of migrant workers, the minister said the government has generated 146.2 million man-days up to May 13 with ₹100 billion spent.
She said the government backed universal right to minimum wages and regional disparity in minimum wages need to be bridged by national floor wage. The government will spend ₹35 billion on giving free food grain to 80 million migrant workers who do not have either central or state PDS (public distribution system) cards. PDS ration cards to be made portable to allow migrant workers to use ration cards across states.
She said the government would launch affordable rental housing scheme for migrant workers and give ₹50 billion to five million street vendors. The minister had extended affordable housing scheme for middle income families with ₹600,000 to Rs1.8 million annual income to be extended till March 2021.
The government will provide ₹300 billion additional emergency working capital fund to be provided through NABARD to small, marginal farmers, she said.
In the first tranche of the ₹20 trillion package announced on Wednesday, Sitharaman offered a provision of ₹3.0 trillion collateral free loans for MSMEs with a four-year tenure and moratorium of 12 months. These loans will be available till October 31, 2020 and will be 100 per cent credit guaranteed. This will help 4.5 million units to resume activity and safeguard jobs. To provide stressed MSMEs with equity support, government will facilitate provision of ₹200 billion as subordinate debt.