FM Reviews PSB’s Preparedness to Implement ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ package

The Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has on Friday reviewed the preparedness of public sector banks (PSBs) for implementing Rs 20,97,053 crore ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ economic stimulus package announced between March 26 and May 17.

The FM chaired the review meeting through video conference with the chief executives of PSBs in order to review the readiness of banks in implementing ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ relief package. The department of financial services (DFS) said that the meeting was held to operationalize the announcements made to provide relief to the poor, in order to boost the economy. “Everyone aligned on the need for quickly addressing the needs of MSMEs and other customers”, it said in a tweet. The Union Government had on March 26, 2020 announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore welfare package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). It was followed by monetary measures worth Rs 8.01 lakh crore taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) between March 27 and April 17. Recently, Sitharaman announced an additional Rs 11.02 lakh crore stimulus package in five-parts between May 13 and May 17 under the umbrella of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

“The PSBs play a key role in the effective implementation of most of the announcements the government made since March 26, hence the finance minister will frequently review the progress made by state-run banks in this direction”, said sources from Finance Ministry. A Government officer said that most of the government’s monetary schemes are executed through the PSBs, which are directly responsible for delivering welfare schemes that involve direct benefit transfer. The PMGKY, which was announced on March 26, included Rs 500 per month cash payment to 200 million women Jan-Dhan account holders for three months and an ex-gratia of Rs 1,000 to 30 million poor senior citizens, widows and Divyangs each. PMGKY also front-loaded the Rs 2,000 installment paid to 87 million farmers under the existing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The effective delivery of this money depends on the efficiency of the banks, the official said. The Union government is also monitoring the credit flow, which is a must to boost the economy.