Concluding the 5-day announcements of the government's Rs20 trillion financial package of liquidity and reforms to restore the health of the covid-struck economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the government would spend Rs1 trillion on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA).
This is Rs40,000 crore than the amount originally planned to spend in FY21. The government's decision to increase MNREGA budget comes amidst millions of migrants returning to their native places as the 54-day lockdown, that ends today, left factories shut and rendered them unemployed.
The government has said any debt default due to covid shall be excluded from default under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).