The government has only taken a pause and more measures will
be announced in the days to come to help sectors hit by the coronavirus
outbreak and also to make India ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat', Minister of State for
Finance Anurag Thakur said.

IMAGE: Minister of State for Finance Anurag
Thakur. Photograph: ANI Photo.
Since the outbreak of the
pandemic, the government has taken several steps to mitigate the hardships of
the people due to lockdown and support growth, Thakur told PTI in an interview.
Only this Sunday, he said,
the government on the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a
comprehensive economic package of Rs 20.97 lakh crore to support the economy
hit hard by COVID-19.
"We came first with
the ease of compliance. The second was for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan
package (Rs 1.70 lakh crore) and the third was this stimulus package of Rs
20.97 lakh crore. This can't be the end," he said while sharing details of
a series of announcements.
"The announcements
have taken a pause and the action will continue," the minister said when
asked whether the government was expected to come out with more measures to
deal with the current economic crisis following the coronavirus outbreak.
Emphasising that the Modi
government is sensitive to the needs of people and businesses, he said, the
ministry is taking the inputs from various sectors.
"Tourism is a very,
very important sector for us. Hospitality is an important sector for us. Civil
aviation is an important sector for us. In a country like India where they
contribute to the GDP, not only GDP but millions of jobs have been provided
through these sectors. We are very open about these sectors, and others if any
have been left out.
"But let me say here
also many will also fall into other categories which have been benefited. Some
will benefit from the series of announcements made for the MSME sector. Small
hotels which fall into this category can take advantage of the announcement
made in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package," he said.
Stressing that economic
reform is a continuous process, the minister said, "I'll say the year 2020
will be known as the year of reforms.”
In bold reforms aimed at
boosting the sagging economy, the government last week announced several reforms
including a slew of measures for the agriculture sector, defence manufacturing,
civil aviation and mining sector.
"The long-pending
demand for the change of definition of MSME, taking farmers out of the clutches
of the Essential Commodities Act and the APMC Act have been seen as historic
steps. Opening up of the coal mining and mineral sector at the same time has
been a very positive step towards self-reliance," he said.
"Apart from that,
opening up of the space sector is not a small reform. Permitting foreign
investors to own up to a 74 per cent stake in defence manufacturing ventures
under the automatic route, from the current 49 per cent limit is another big
bold move," he said.
Also, the list of weapons
that cannot be imported will be expanded to give Make in India a boost and cut
down the import bill and improve export potential.
Rebutting the criticism
that the government has not done enough to push demand, the minister said that
the central government has transferred funds directly to the needy, whether it
was fund transfer to 20.5 crore Jan Dhan account holders or 2.2 crore national
security assistance programme beneficiaries, or 9 crore farmers.
Besides, he said, the Modi
government has undertaken several other measures which will directly benefit
the needy people. These include distribution of free ration to about 80 crore
people, gas cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana etc.
The government, the
minister said, has announced a series of measures to help the MSME sector which
employs the highest number of people (about 12 crores) after agriculture.
Among other things, the
government has made a provision of Rs 3 lakh crore of collateral-free loan for
the MSME sector.
"I think this is going
to give a boost to the MSME sector," the minister said, adding it will
help in protecting jobs and there would be no more layoffs.
At the same time, the
minister said, the money in the hands of people will go a long way in boosting aggregate
demand in the economy.
Tags
Economy