Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the fifth and final phase related to the economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore. The Finance Minister held a continuous press conference from Wednesday and shared information related to the Special Economic Package of Rs 20 lakh crore in installments. The package was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on May 12, 2020. Know today the big announcement of the fifth and final installment …
46038 crore rupees given to states in April
The Finance Minister said that the challenge of revenue deficit is facing the state governments. He said that the Central Government is continuously assisting the State Governments so that they can fight the battle to do. He said that 46038 crore rupees were given to the states in April. The Ministry of Health gave 4113 crore rupees to the states to fight against taxation. 12390 crore revenue deficit grants were given to the states on time. 11092 crore was given to the states in the first week of April under the State Disaster Release Fund. He said that the government has allowed states to raise debt equal to five percent of GDP.
Public Sector Enterprises Policy for a New, Self-reliant India. Under this policy, all sectors will be opened to the private sector. For this, the government will introduce a new policy. Under this, some sectors will be notified as strategic sectors. There will be at least one public sector company in the notified strategic sector but private sectors will also be included in this sector. Public sector companies will be privatized in other sectors. However, a decision will be taken given the appropriate time. There will be no more than four public sector companies in the strategic sector. If more than four public sectors are in a strategic sector, they will be merged.
Minor technical procedural lapses will be excluded from crime
The Finance Minister said that small technical procedural lapses would be ruled out of crime. He said that the compound crime has been increased from 18 sections to 58 sections. This will reduce the company’s green balance. He said that this will reduce the burden on the courts and increase the productivity of companies.
Ease of doing business for private companies. Now the country’s companies will be able to list their securities directly in the approved foreign markets. The Finance Minister made an important announcement regarding the matters related to IBC. The threshold will be increased from one lakh rupees to one crore rupees to start the insolvency process.
Promote technical education
The Finance Minister said that technology-based education will be promoted. PM E Vidya program will be started. This will be for online education. One Nation One digital program will come. For classes 1 to 12, one channel will be launched for each class. Community radio will also be put to good use. Special e-content will come for differently-abled children. He also informed us that online automatic courses will be started by the top 100 universities.
The Mano Darpan program will come for mental support. He said that the use of technology for education has increased during the Karona period. Air educational video content has increased. During the applicable lockdown of Kovid-19, the government has taken several measures for online education. The government itself, through Prabha DTH channels, has helped students who do not have internet access to continue their studies. Three channels were already for schooling. Now 12 more channels have been added to this list.
Increase in spending in the public health sector
The government has announced an increase in spending in the public health sector. The number of health and wellness centers will be increased in rural and urban areas. Separate blocks will be made for infectious diseases in all district-level hospitals. The lab network will be improved. An integrated health laboratory will be established at the district and block level to combat the epidemic. The Finance Minister said that a provision of insurance of 50 lakhs has been made for health workers. To protect them, the epidemic act has been changed. He told that more than 300 domestic manufacturers are currently in PPE, whereas there was not a single domestic manufacturer before Coronavirus. He informed that now over three lakh PPE is being made in the country.
Budget allocation for MNREGA increased by Rs 40,000 crore
The budget allocation for MNREGA will be increased by Rs 40,000 crore. This will provide more work to the migrant laborers returning to the villages. This will strengthen the rural economy.
The Finance Minister said that the government has taken various measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 15,000 crores for the Kovid-19 was announced by the government. Of this, Rs 4,113 crore has been released to the states. A provision of Rs 3,750 crore has been made for essential commodities. The central government has made a provision of Rs 550 crore for testing labs and kits. The Finance Minister said that the government is doing the job of seeing opportunities in crisis. Its framework is laid out in the Self-Reliant India Package.
80 crore people get food grains for free
The Finance Minister said that the government has given food grains to 80 crore people for free. Beneficiaries of Ujjwala scheme have been benefited through DBT. 8 crore have been spent separately for 35 crore food grains for migrant laborers. 86000 crore loans have been given to farmers. The Finance Minister said that 12 lakh EPFO members took advantage of the online withdrawal facility. 2.02 Direct assistance was provided to laborers associated with construction. The Finance Minister said that the use of technology by PM Garib Kalyan Yojana directly helped the accounts of the needy people. He said that the government transferred 2000 rupees to the accounts of 8.19 crore farmers. He said that direct assistance was provided to 20 crore Jan Dhan accounts.
Direct assistance was sent to the accounts of 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana. Also, the government added money to the account of construction workers. In the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, direct benefits were transferred through the use of technology. The Finance Minister started his address on Sunday with the talk of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Tuesday. Sitharaman said that things like land, labor, liquidity, law have been emphasized in the economic package to make the country self-reliant, as the Prime Minister said.
The major announcements made by the Finance Minister so far are as follows:
1. Increase in FDI limit from the automatic route in defense production
The Finance Minister said that the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in defense production will be raised from 49 percent to 74 percent. Apart from this, ‘Make in India’ will be emphasized to make the country self-sufficient in defense manufacturing. Sitharaman also announced the incorporation of the Ordnance Factory Board. The functioning of the Ordinance Factory will be improved through incorporation.
2. The country will be made self-sufficient in the coal sector
The country will be made self-sufficient in the field of coal production. For this, a commercial license of mining will be given based on revenue sharing. The Finance Minister said that about Rs 50,000 crore will be spent for the development of infrastructure related to the coal sector.
The Government is working on a mission mode on the next phase of ‘ease of doing business’ reform
The Finance Minister had earlier announced that the law on essential commodities would be amended. This will give farmers a better price for their crops. Preparations are being made to regulate the prices of agricultural products like cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions, and potatoes through amendments.
4. Free food grains to 8 crore migrant laborers for two months
On Thursday, the government announced giving free food grains to about 8 crore migrant laborers for the next two months. The Finance Minister announced that eight crore migrant laborers will be given free grain for the next two months, who do not have a ration card. The government will provide five kilograms of grain per person and one kilogram of a gram per family per month under this scheme.
▪️ Free food grain supply to #Migrants for 2 months
▪️ About 8 crores migrants to benefit from this
▪️ Rs. 3500 Crore will be spent on this intervention for 2 months: @nsitharaman
The Finance Minister had earlier announced that 2.5 crore farmers of the country will be given credit cards in the coming days. The government has announced a loan disbursement of Rs 2 lakh crore through KCC. Earlier, he had said that KCCs have been issued to 25 lakh farmers in the last 2 months.
