A major focus of the second tranche of the economic stimulus package announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday was to provide free foodgrains for the next two months to migrant workers who do not have ration cards. The Centre will spend ₹3,500 crore for this purpose.
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Quoting numbers from State governments, Ms. Sitharaman said there are an estimated 8 crore migrant workers who have been housed in government and privately run relief camps across the country since the lockdown.
However, economists said this intervention was too little, too late, and that the free foodgrain provision should have been universalised to deal with widespread distress.
Credit facilities
Apart from measures for migrant workers, the second tranche announced by the government included an extension of credit facilities for urban housing, street vendors and farmers and an interest subvention scheme for small businesses.
The move to provide free foodgrain for migrant workers is an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Gharib Kalyan Yojana, which provided an additional monthly free rice or wheat allocation of 5 kg per person, and 1 kg of pulse per household from April to June to the 80 crore people with ration cards covered by the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
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Over the past month, migrant workers and others without ration cards have struggled without access to this free food.
“For those who are non-card holders, meaning they are neither under the NFSA nor are they holders of any State-level cards, they shall be given [this benefit]…And if the person is remaining without card, he can also get it,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
“We are engaging with the State governments to make sure that they know where these migrants are, they can approach them and give them. Because most of these migrants who have no cards are staying