RELIEF: NOT RUPEES, BUT LOANS

The Union government announced a `20 lakh crore economic stimulus package, which the government has claimed will provide relief to migrant workers, farmers and other sections of society that suffered from the nationwide lockdown. The package, however, seems to consist more of loan offerings, rather than a comprehensive stimulus. When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained the details in press conferences—stretching over five days—the announcements seemed more of a loan offering, with calls to privatise national assets.

Everything the government offered was a loan, except for the decision to give free ration to poor families and a meagre amount of `500- `1,000 for Jan Dhan account holders, widows, the elderly and the differently abled. If one were to interpret the government’s version, people have to first take loans, invest in businesses, and, then wait for results to get relief—something that may take years to come.

The finance minister also announced a credit programme for street vendors as well, where they can take loans of `10,000. But it is unclear as to who will be chosen for the programme. Is there a database of street vendors and what documents they will need? The same is the case for farmers, where Sitharaman relied too much on Kisan Credit Cards, despite the fact that only 40 per cent of India’s small and marginal farmers are covered by formal credit, as of 2019, according to the Reserve Bank of India. The economic package may have stolen the attention from the pandemic itself, but the economic infection is only now going to unfold.