Our Correspondent
Lucknow
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has urged the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to offer some respite to the middle class, small traders, farmers and craftsmen to help them tide over the crisis created by the nationwide lockdown to prevent COVID-19 spread.
In a letter written to CM Yogi on Wednesday, she said, “The cost of education and home loan forms a major part of the economic texture of the middle class. In such a situation, the announcement of fee waiver of private schools will be a big relief for them. Interest on home loans should also be waived and the EMIs on the same should be suspended for six months as many people have lost their jobs.”
Keeping her discourse around farmers, she demanded the government give a 100% guarantee of procurement of the farm produce and loan waiver. She raised the issue of procurement of the Rabi crops, which is being delayed. Priyanka expressed concern for the farmers over the raised electricity bills and suggested the tube well and domestic bills must be waived and moratorium be put on pending dues.
The Congress General Secretary sought financial assistance for small and medium industries in the state. She referred to weavers and carpet manufacturers and demanded financial relief and loan waiver for them as well.
“Shikshamitra, Asha workers, rozgar sevaks should be provided bonuses, and weavers, craftsmen should be given Rs12,000 each apart from waiver on electricity bills,” she wrote in the letter.
She started her letter with offering condolences on the demise of Yogi Adityanath’s father last month, “After your father’s death, I am sending you a letter for the first time. May his departed soul rest in peace.”
Senior Congress leader Jitin Prasada alleged on Wednesday Yogi Aditynath government in UP had failed in helping the corona-struck people. “The power was centralised and that is no voice through which one can reach the officials and people are helpless as to where to go,” said the ex-Union minister.
Online loan fair for MSME today: Yogi
Uttar Pradesh is set to hold “online loan fair” on Thursday to disburse loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector to put the state economy back on track and generate employment. “We are going to hold an online loan fair for MSME tomorrow. Around 36,000 businesses are expected to take loan worth Rs1,600 to Rs2,000 crore,” Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday. The process to avail the loan wasn’t clear.
Yogi also thanked Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for announcing Rs3 lakh crore package for MSME.
After FM’s announcement, UP becomes the first state in India to announce its plan to move forward to give a push to the most crucial sector. The state has almost 90 lakh such units. The Yogi government hopes to generate 90 lakh employments in the sector with an assumption that at least one job will be created by each business entity.
