India Inc cheered Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of payment of cash in lieu of LTC and Rs 10,000 festival advance to government employees, saying these measures will boost demand while instilling a “feel good” factor in the people and energize growth.
Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020
Key-Points
Under Leave Travel Concession (LTC) Cash Voucher Scheme, the Government has decided to give cash payment to employees in lieu of one LTC during 2018-21, in which full payment on Leave encashment and tax-free payment of LTC fare in 3 flat-rate slabs depending on class of entitlement will be given.
Special Festival Advance Scheme which was meant for non-gazetted government employees is being revived as a one-time measure, for gazetted employees too. All central govt. employees can now get interest-free advance of Rs. 10,000, in the form of a prepaid RuPay Card, to be spent by March 31, 2021.
Capital Expenditure Boost for States: A special interest-free 50-year loan to states is being issued, for ₹ 12,000 crore capital expenditure (the interest-free loans given to states are to be spent by March 31, 2021):
- ₹ 200 crore each for 8 North East states
- ₹ 450 crore each Uttarakhand, Himachal
- ₹ 7,500 crore for remaining states, as per share of Finance Commission’s devolution
