New Delhi: The government may consider direct cash transfers to the poor and migrant labourers if the current crisis deepens and a situation evolves where this exercise emerges as the best solution, a top Finance Ministry source said on Friday.
With no work in the cities due to the lockdown, millions of migrants have taken to the road and other means to return to their homes. This section of society has been adversely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as their sources of income have completely dried up.
The source also said the Finance Ministry has asked the Labour Ministry to collect data on job losses and pay cuts in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
About monetising the fiscal deficit by printing more money, the official said the issue would be looked at “when we reach that stage”, asserting that it has not come to that stage yet. On restrictions put on Chinese investments in India, the official clarified no decision has yet been taken to restrict China through the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) route. With regard to the govt’s Rs20 lakh crore economic package, the source defended its structure, suggesting comparisons with the economic packages of other countries should not be drawn as India’s need was different from others. “We have gone with more reforms that were needed to give strength to the economy. This is required more in our country,” it said.
