Database on Govt.'s COVID-19 related policies
| # | DATE | CIRCULAR NO. & SIGNATORY | MINISTRY | THEME | DESCRIPTION | FILE |
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| 1 | 19 March, 2020 | [F. No. S-26/1//2020-ECR&E] A. K. CHOUDHARY, Economic Adviser |
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Safety | Categorises alchohol used for making hand sanitizers as essential commodities; caps the price (all raw materials used to make it also essential commodity |  |
| 2 | 20 March, 2020 | D.O. No. M-11011/08/2020-Media Heerarlal Samariya, Secretary to GoI |
Ministry of Labour and Employment | Advisories issues to employers of public/private establishments to refrain from terminating employment or deducting wages for leave. Copies of letters sent to Chief Secretaries, Employers’ association and some central government departments. | |
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| 3 | 21 March, 2020 | [F. No. S-26/1//2020-ECR&E] A.K. Choudhary, Economic Adviser |
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Safety | Caps the prices of hand sanitisers, masks, and the fabric used in making masks | |
| 4 | 24 March, 2020 | Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State, I/C, Labour and Employment | Ministry of Labour and Employment | Financial Aid | Advisory issued by the Ministry to all CMs/LGs to release cess funds (of around Rs 52,000 crore) collected by Labour Welfare Boards under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 to all construction workers (to sustain their livelihood). | |
| 5 | 26 March, 2020 | Announced by Nirmala Sitaraman, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister | Ministry of Finance | Financial Aid | Rs 1.7 lakh crore COVID-19 relief package under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor for their essential needs | |
| 6 | 27 March, 2020 | [F. No. S-35012/01/2020-SS-II(Pt.)] R.K. Gupta, Joint Secretary, Labour and Employment |
Ministry of Labour and Employment | Financial Aid | Notification on permitting non-refundable advance to employees from PF account, of three months salary or 75% of amount in PF account, whichever is lesser. | |
| 7 | 27 March, 2020 | Saurav Sinha, Chief General Manager In-Charge (RBI) | RBI | Working Capital/ Financial Aid | Details of COVID-19 related regulatory package, which include- Rescheduling of payments for Term Loans and Working Capital Facilities Easing of Working Capital financing |
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| 8 | 30 March, 2020 | D.O. No J- 18046/04/2020RSETI Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Rural Development |
Ministry of Rural Development | Health and Hygiene/ Safety | Advisory to motivate and facilitate stitching of masks by engaging ex-trainees of Rural Self Employment Training Institutes while ensuring social distancing. | |
| 9 | 30 March, 2020 | F.No.7-1/2019(i)-BP.III Abhay Kumar, Under Secretary, GoI |
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Food | PDS beneficiaries in Union Territories working on the DBT model will get 5kg per person per month of free foodgrains during April-June. | |
| 10 | 31 March, 2020 | DO/ASRD004/2020 Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Rural Development |
Ministry of Rural Development | Financial Aid | Advisory to spread awareness about the one-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 500/month to be given to all women Jan Dhan account holders for next three months and also facilitate withdrawal of transferred amount. | |
| 11 | 4 April, 2020 | J-11060/47/2019-RL Alka Upadhyaya, Addtional Secretary, Rural Devlopment |
Ministry of Rural Development | Health and Hygiene/Safety | Advisory on activities that can be undertaken by State Rural Livelihood Mission and Self-Help Group networks to contain and spread awareness about COVID-19. | |
| 12 | 8 April, 2020 | Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Food | NGOs involved in relief operations permitted to buy wheat and rice directly from FCI, without going through the e-auction process, at the pre-determined reserve prices | |
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| 13 | 9 April, 2020 | Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Food | FCI to provide food to non-NFSA beneficiaries having ration cards, 5 kg per person per month for 3 months; NGOs can buy without any limit | |
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| 14 | 17 April, 2020 | Launched by- Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculte and Farmers’ Welfare | Ministry of Agriculture | Transport | Kisan Rath mobile app launched to facilitate transportation of foodgrains and perishables during lockdown by connecting farmers and traders with transporters | |
| 15 | 1 May, 2020 | Ministry of Railways | Transport | Railways start Shramik Special Trains to move migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to lock down. | |
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| 16 | 1 May, 2020 | RT-23018/06/2020-T(EF) Paresh Kumar Goel, Director (Transport) |
Ministry of Road Transport and Highway | Transport | Order by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways requesting state Transport Ministers to comply with the operating procedures related to social distancing and provide facilitation to the transport/logistics sector. | |
| 17 | 2 May, 2020 | No. DTP/2020/05/17 Principal Executive Director (Coaching) |
Ministry of Railways | Transport | Details related to movement of stranded persons by Shramik Special Trains | |
| 18 | 13 May, 2020 | Announced by Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs | Finance Minister announced various relief and credit support measures for enterprises. | |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | MSME Focused- >>Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Working Capital Facility for Businesses, including MSMEs -Additional working capital finance of 20% of the outstanding credit as on 29 February 2020: form of a Term Loan -Available to units with upto Rs 25 crore outstanding and turnover of up to Rs 100 crore whose accounts are standard -amount will be 100% guaranteed by the Government of India providing a total liquidity of Rs. 3.0 lakh crores to more than 45 lakh MSMEs |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | >>Rs 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for Stressed MSMEs -Provision for 2lakh MSMEs stressed or NPA -Government will support them with Rs. 4,000 Cr. to Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small enterprises (CGTMSE) |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | >>Rs 50,000 crores equity infusion through MSME Fund of Funds -Govt will set up a Fund of Funds with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore that will provide equity funding support for MSMEs |
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| >>New definition of MSME -revised by raising investment level -additional criteria for turnover being introduced -distinction between manufacturing and service sector will be eliminated |
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| >>Other measures -emarker linkages for MSMEs will be promoted to act as a replacement for trade fairs and exhibitions -MSME receivables from Government and CPSEs will be released in 45 days |
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| 19 | 14 May, 2020 | Announced by Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs | Finance Minister announces short term and long-term measures for supporting the poor, including migrants, farmers, tiny businesses and street vendors | |
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| Food | >>Free food grains supply to migrants for 2 months -additional food grain allocated to states/UTs for migrant labourers at 5kg per migrant labourer and 1kg channa per family for May and June -migrant labourers not covered under National Food Security Act or without ration card shall be eligible |
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| Food | >>One Nation One Ration Card -Pilot scheme for portability of ration cards will be extended to 23 states -67 crore beneficiaries covering 83% of PDS population will be covered by National portability of Ration cards by August, 2020 -National portability will be achieved by March, 2021 |
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| Safety | >>Scheme for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes for Migrant Workers and Urban Poor to be launched -Affordable Rental Housing Complexes will provide social security and quality life to migrant labour, urban poor, and students etc -will be done through converting government funded houses in the city into Afforable Renting Housing Complex |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | >>2% Interest Subvention for 12 months for Shishu MUDRA loanees -Government of India will provide Interest subvention of 2% for prompt payees for a period of 12 months to MUDRA Shishu loanees, who have loans below Rs 50,000 |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | >>Rs 5,000 crore Credit facility for Street Vendors -bank credit facility for initial working capital up to Rs. 10,000 for each enterprise will be extended -Use of digital payments and timely repayments will be incentivized through monetary rewards -cover both urban and rural street vendors -expected that 50 lakh street vendors will be benefitted under this scheme |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | >>Rs 30,000 crore Additional Emergency Working Capital for farmers through NABARD -NABARD will extend additional re-finance support of Rs 30,000 crore for meeting crop loan requirement of Rural Cooperative Banks and RRBs -refinance will be front-loaded and available on tap -This is over and above Rs 90,000 crore that will be provided by NABARD to this sector in the normal course |
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| Working Capital/ Financial Aid | >>Rs 2 lakh crore credit boost to 2.5 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card Scheme -To provide concessional credit to PM-KISAN beneficiaries through Kisan Credit Cards -Fisherman and animal husbandry farmers also included -2.5 crore farmers will be covered |
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| 20 | 17 May, 2020 | No. 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) Union Home Secretray |
Ministry of Home Affairs | Through the order issued on May 17, the MHA has ceased all its previous orders, including the March 29 order that mandated payment of wages to employees during the lockdown period. | |
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| 21 | COVID-19 Startup Assistance Scheme | SIDBI | Working Capital/ Financial Aid | To provide support to Govt of India defined startups who have got at-least one round of funding through VC funds and whose cash flow and liquidity has been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The assistance can be used for various working capital/ requirements like salaries/wages, rent, administrative expenses, payment to vendors etc. The loan may also be considered against outstanding GST refund. | |
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| 22 | 26 May, 2020 | Ministry of Tourism | Validity of approval and certifications of hotels and other accommodation units whose project approvals/reapprovals and have expired/are likely to expire during the period March 24 to June 29 are deemed to be extended till June 30. | |
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| 23 | 20 May, 2020 | Approved by Cabinet under PM Modi | Ministry of Finance | Working Capital/ Financial Aid | Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme To enable additional funding of up to Rs. three lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA borrowers by way of “Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.” Under the Scheme, 100% guarantee coverage to be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs. three lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA. borrowers, in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility. |
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| 24 | 1 June | Approval of Union Cabinet chaired by Narendra Modi | Working Capital/ Financial Aid | Cabinet approves extension of benefits of Interest Subvention and Prompt Repayment Incentive schemes for short term crop loans. Farmers whose loan repayment date lies between March 01, 2020 and May 31, 2020 can repay till end of August without any penal interest. | |
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| 25 | 1 June | Approved under Chairmanship of Narendra Modi | MSME Ministry | Working Capital/ Financial Aid | Cabinet approves revised definition of MSMEs as announced under the Atmanirbhar Scheme. Further, Rs 20,000 crore debt package and Rs 50,000 crore capital infusion for MSMEs approved. | |
| 26 | 4 June | Dr. Shivalli M. Chauhan, Director (PFC-I) | Ministry of Finance | In view of COVID-19, for prudent use of financial resources, the department of expenditure has directed that no new proposal for a scheme should be initiated for FY 2020-21, except the proposals under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana and Aatmabirbhar Scheme. | |
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| 27 | 19 June | Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and SIDBI MOU | Financial Aid | PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) – a Special Micro-Credit Facility for Street Vendors – Seeks to provide affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoodsthat have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown. – This scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh Street Vendors. – Under the Scheme, the vendors can avail a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. – On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on quarterly basis. – There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan. – The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month. |
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| 28 | 20 June | Launched by PM Narendra Modi in Bihar | Ministry of Rural Development – Nodal Ministry.The Abhiyaan will be a convergent effort between different ministries and departments | PM Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan | The major objectives of the initiative include: – Provide livelihood opportunity to returning migrants and similarly affected rural citizens – Saturate villages with public infrastructure and create livelihood opportunities viz. Roads, Housing, Anganwadis, Panchayat Bhavans, various livelihood assets and Community Complexes among others – The basket of a wide variety of works will ensure that each migrant worker is able to get an opportunity of employment according to his skill, in the coming 125 days. The Program will also prepare for expansion and development of livelihoods over a longer term. |
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| 29 | 30 June | F. No. 7-‘l1201 g-BP.lll(ft .X371 225) K. Roy Varghese Under Secretary to Govt. of lndia |
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution | Food | PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana extended for another five months, till November 2020 | |
| 30 | 9 July | Announced by Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan | Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution | Food | Distribution period for free food grains under Atma Nirbhar Bharat for Migrant labourers extended till August 31, 2020 | |
| 31 | 12 June | Supreme Court Order | Supreme Court on 12 June 2020 passed an interim order It ruled that no coercive action should be initiated against employers who do not pay wages for the period of 50 days during which the MHA order was in effect (MHA had reverted its 29 March order on18 May 2020). Supreme Court further noted that payment of wages for the lockdown period should be negotiated between employers and employees and employers should file an affidavit giving details of such negotiation to the court. In case the parties are unable to settle the matter by themselves a request to concerned labour authorities can be submitted who would then conciliate the dispute | |