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Key Announcements By Nirmala Sitharaman: Focus On Migrants And Farmers

The finance minister announced nine more steps as part of the economic package.
File image of Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
File image of Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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 announcements:

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 will launch a scheme under PMAY for migrant workers to provide ease of living at affordable rent.

The government also announced that 7,200 Self Help Groups (SHGs) have been formed in the last two months.

Sitharman also announced a Rs 70,000-crore boost to housing sector by extending the subsidy scheme for affordable housing for the middle income group.

The credit-linked subsidy scheme for the middle income group with an annual income of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 18 lakh was operationalised from May 2017 and extended up to March 2020.

She said the scheme is being extended by one year to benefit 2.5 lakh middle income families.

She also announced a Rs 5,000 crore special credit facility for street vendors by providing them with working capital of up to Rs 10,000, adding this would support 50 lakh street vendors.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.