A package for all

28/03/2020

Since the lockdown has been in force from Wednesday the GOI has come out with a package which will immediately take care of the concerns and welfare of poor and suffering workers and those who need immediate help. In a welcome and timely step, the Government today announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus that included free foodgrain and cooking gas to poor for three months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens as it looked to ease the economic impact of the nationwide lockdown. While over 80 crore poor ration card holders will each get 5 kg of wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free of cost every month for the next three months, 20.4 crore women having Jan Dhan bank accounts would get one-time cash help of Rs 1,500 spread over three months. Over 8.3 crore poor women, who were handed out free cooking gas connections since 2016, will get free LPG refills for the next three months, while poor senior citizens, widows and disabled will get an ex-gratia cash of Rs 1,000.
The package was announced within 36 hours of the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Miniter to protect the nation’s 130 crore people from the fast-spreading coronavirus Measures are very clearly aimed at reaching out with food and money that they need to have it in their hands. The package included advancing the payment of one-third of the Rs 6,000 a year pre-2019 general election cash dole scheme for farmers, government contributions to retirement funds for the next three months of small companies with 90 per cent of staff earning less than Rs 15,000, and a Rs 50 lakh insurance cover to healthcare workers. The pandemic has infected 649 persons in India and has killed 13 so far.
While the free food grains and pulses would cost Rs 45,000 crore, Rs 2,000 payment to 8.7 crore farmers under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana will cost Rs 16,000 crore. The cash to women Jan Dhan account holders will cost Rs 31,000 crore and another Rs 13,000 crore is estimated to be the expenditure for providing free cooking gas. The revised fiscal deficit – the gap between revenue and expenditure – has been put at 3.8 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal. For the fiscal starting April, the government is targeting a 3.5 per cent fiscal deficit. With businesses closed during the lockdown, the government will contribute employees as well as employer’s contribution to the provident fund for the next three months of companies with up to 100 employees with 90 per cent earning not more than Rs 15,000. The contribution will be a total of 24 per cent of eligible wages.

Share This Story


Comment On This Story

 

Photo Gallery

  
BSE Sensex
NSE Nifty