MNREGA is one of the focus sectors under the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday the government will now allocate an additional Rs 40,000 crore to MGNREGA to provide employment boost as she released details of the last set of economic package.

The earlier budget estimate for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was Rs 61,000 crore.

The government’s new announcement will help generate nearly 300 crore person-days in total, she said.

MGNREGA is one of seven sectors which is the focus of Nirmala Sitharaman’s fifth and last tranche of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package to boost the economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown.

The finance minister said on Saturday said eight sectors will undergo structural reforms, which include coal, minerals, defence production, airspace managements and airports, MRO, power distribution companies in Union territories, space and atomic energy.

On Friday, Sitharaman had announced Rs 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund for farm gate infrastructure for farmers and Rs 10,000 crore scheme for the formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (MFEs) under the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package.

She also proposed amendments to the Essential Commodities Act to enable better price realisation for farmers and said no stock limit should apply to processors or value chain participants.

The finance minister had announced the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’, free food grain supply to migrants and creation of affordable rental housing complexes (ARHC) in urban areas for migrant workers and poor under the Covid-19 stimulus package on Thursday.

She focused on the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and the middle class on Wednesday.

They came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the economic package for the country to become ‘self-reliant’ and deal with Covid-19 crisis.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times