Nirmala Sitharaman meets Narendra Modi to express her concerns on the COVID 19 induced economic disaster

Modi Ji and Nirmala Sitharaman meet to discuss economic state of the country

Thursday, 16th April 2020

Nirmala Sitharaman; the Finance Minister of our country met PM Modi amid this extended lockdown period to discuss on COVID-19 & her concerns about the failing economy of the country as various important sectors are not functioning in full form. Regular meetings between the Indian finance ministry & the PM’s office is taking place.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji had announced a package known by the name of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package to help the poor cope up with the thrashes of this devastating pandemic. It is a financial package amounting to Rs 1.75 Lakh Crore and it includes reliefs like cash doles for the elderly and women and free of cost cooking gas and food grains for the poor for a period of 3 months.

The manufacturing sector that was already under stress has been hit hard, so is banking. Financial institutions have been told to defer EMIs by three months due to the pandemic. Several firms across sectors have announced pay cuts and reduced their workforce.

Both the banking and manufacturing sectors have received a big blow due to the lockdown that followed the pandemic. Financial institutions have been instructed to exempt customers from EMI payments for a period of 3 months and also, many firms across many sectors of the country have given notices about pay deductions or workforce reduction.

As per the Bloomberg’s report the Indian economy is probably heading towards its first annual contraction in over 4 decades as an outcome of the biggest global lockdown ever as an aftermath of the virus outbreak.

A new guideline that came up after PM Modi’s announcement of lockdown extension till 3rd May declared that few industries in the country’s rural belt and sectors like IT, farming and ecommerce will be made function-able after the 20th of April. Also, it was declared that after a period of 1 week, a lenient approach may be undertaken with regard to restrictions in the least affected parts of the country.

The government also declared that construction of buildings and roads in the country’s rural regions will be allowed and manufacturing of IT hardware will be allowed too to reduce the misery of millions struck by this prolonged lockdown.

Furthermore, it has been stated that inter-state transportation of goods; both essential as well as non-essential commodities will be permitted post 20th of April. Also, highway dhabas, call centers operating for governmental activities and truck repair stores can re-open on and re-function from the 20th of April. The same will apply for medicines and medical supplies manufacturing units.

Manufacturing and also other forms of industrial setups with strict access control may be allowed in specific economic belts, industrial townships & estates after implementing a standard operating procedure or SOP for maintenance of social distancing.