FM Seeks Parliament Nod For Additional Rs 2.35 Lakh Crore In Spending

On Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman sought Parliament nod for additional spending of Rs 2.35 lakh crore, which includes cash outgo of Rs 1.66 lakh crore, primarily to meet expenses for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under PM Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.

As part of PM Garib Kalyan Yojana Rs 33,771.48 crore has been transferred to beneficiaries of both women Jan Dhan Account holders and Old Age Pension holders.

"For providing Grants-in-aid General for Direct Benefit Transfer to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna Women Accounts Holders (Rs 30,956.98 crore) and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension (Rs 2,814.50 crore) under the scheme National Social Assistance Programme," the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21 tabled in the Lok Sabha said.

The government has also sought Rs 46,602.43 crore towards providing additional allocation under Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the states as per recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

The first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21 includes 54 Grants and 1 Appropriations. The additional expenditure is sought to be used to augment health infrastructure (Rs 14,231.96 crore), towards Grants-in-aid General under the scheme PM Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) related to the Labour Ministry (Rs 4,860 crore), meeting expenditure towards food subsidy to decentralized procurement scheme states under National Food Security Act (Rs 10,000 crore), towards Grants-in-aid General to National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for the Guarantee Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility to eligible MSME borrowers (Rs 4,000 crore) and others.