The government announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore relief package aimed at providing a safety net for those hit the hardest by the Covid-19 lockdown, along with insurance cover for frontline medical personnel. About 800 million people will get free cereals and cooking gas apart from cash through direct transfers for three months. The 21-day lockdown began on March 25. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana includes higher wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA), Rs 1,000 ex-gratia payment to nearly 30 million poor senior citizens, widows and disabled as well as insurance coverage of as much as Rs 50 lakh each for about 2 million healthcare workers battling the disease. Finmin writes to RBI on relief measures The finance ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider implementing a series of emergency measures aimed at helping borrowers cope with the economic havoc wreaked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Money earned in India by NRIs will be taxed
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman provisions introduced in the Budget would bring Indian workers’ income in zero tax jurisdictions, like the UAE, into the Indian tax net. The Finance Bill has proposed three major changes to prevent tax abuse by citizens that don’t pay taxes anywhere in the world reducing the number of days that an Indian citizen can be granted non-resident status for tax purposes from 182 to 120; citizens who don’t pay taxes anywhere will be deemed to be a resident; and the definition of ‘not ordinarily resident’ has been tightened. “The new provision is being interpreted to create an impression that those Indians who are bonafide workers in other countries, including in Middle East, and who are not liable to tax in these countries, will be taxed in India on the income that they have earned there.
Budget 2020: Caring society: Women and Child, Social Welfare, Culture & Tourism, Env & Climate Change
The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman presented the Budget 2020 on three main themes.The third theme of the budget is Caring Society. Under this theme, the GoI allocated budget to Women and Child, Social Welfare and Tourism, Environment and Climate Change. Women and Child and Social Welfare Under the Beti Bachao Beti Padao, the Gross Enrolment ratio of girls is higher than boys. Their enrollment is as follows At Elementary level, girls’ enrollment is 94.32% and boys’ is 89.28% At secondary level, girls’ enrollment is 81.32% as against 78% for boys. At higher secondary level, girls’ enrollment is 59.7% as compared to 57.54% for boys. Poshan Abhiyan To improve health of children in the age of 0 to 6 years of age, adolescent girls and lactating women, Poshan Abhiyan was introduced. More than 6 lakh Anganwadi workers are equipped with smart phones to upload the status of nutrition of more than 10 crore house hold.
