Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today(12/11/2020) announced a new Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to incentivize the creation of new employment during the COVID-19 recovery phase as part of the Modi governments second stimulus package. In a press meet held today, Sitharaman also said the Indian economy is witnessing a strong recovery after a long and strict lockdown. Addressing a press conference to announce more stimulus measures to boost growth, she said macro-economic indicators are pointing towards recovery.
Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0, the FM announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana. The Centre will provide subsidy for two years in respect of newly eligible employees engaged on or after October 1, 2020, under the scheme.
She said the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is being launched to incentivize the creation of new employment opportunities during COVID-19 recovery. “Every EPFO registered organizations – if they take in new employees or those who had lost jobs between March 1 and Sept 30 – these employees will get benefits,” she said.
Under the scheme, the central government will bear both the employee and employer parts of the PF for all new employees for establishments up to 1000 employees. This means that a total of 24 percent of the wage contribution will be borne by the government.
For establishments employing more than 1000 employees, the employees’ EPF contribution of 12 percent will be borne by the government.
The PF amount will get credited upfront in Aadhaar-seeded EPFO accounts of the eligible new employee, the Finance Minister said.
The scheme will be effective from October 1, 2020, and will be operational till June 2021.
She(FM) also said the RBI predicts a strong likelihood of the Indian economy returning to positive growth in Q3 of the fiscal year, ahead by a quarter of the earlier forecast. Besides, the existing Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme has also been extended till 31st March 2021.
Also, check the highlights of FM Sitharaman’s press conference held today:
11 States have availed Rs 3,621 crore under interest-free loans towards capital expenditure. IT refunds have gone in a big way to people; 1.32 lakh crore refunds given.
Under the Emergency Credit Liquidity Guarantee Scheme, a total amount of Rs 2.05 lakh crore has been sanctioned to 61 lakh borrowers, out of which Rs 1.52 lakh crore has been disbursed. Rs 1.18 lakh crore has been sanctioned to discoms of 17 states/UTs.
Bank credit growth is up 5.1%; markets are at a record high. RBI predicting a strong likelihood of economy returning to positive growth in Q3 says FM. She also noted that Moody’s has reassessed India’s economic outlook, making an upward revision to its GDP forecast.
The work has commenced on creating a portal for migrant workers.
There has been very good progress on ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ in 28 states covering 68.8 crore beneficiaries.
About 157.44 lakh eligible farmers have received Kisan Credit Cards and sanctioned a limit of ₹1,43,262 crore in two phases.
26.2 lakh loan applications were received under the PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors.
