Congress-affiliated student body National Students Union of India (NSUI) asked the government to re-analyse the allocation of COVID-19 relief fund package for students. The organisation was responding to a slew of measures released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today as part of a Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal and monetary package announced by PM Modi in a televised address to the nation yesterday.
"India's major population is youth and students and this package doesn't provide any relaxations for the youth and students. Is it so that the govt doesn't find youth as an important contributing factor to the economy?," Neeraj Kundan, president, NSUI, asked in a statement.
"While the youth and students are facing en number of mental psychological issues, they also have to worry about the financial problems," the statement read while it asked government to waive off the interest on the EMIs of the education loans taken by students.
"The rent of the hostels and PG's should be waived off as the students are not even using this facility," it added.
It also asked the government to waive off the tuition fees "when there are no classes and no one to teach".
PM Modi said today that the announcements would go a long way in addressing issues faced by businesses, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) hit by the coronavirus crisis and the weeks-long lockdown.
"Today's announcements by the Finance Minister will go a long way in addressing issues faced by businesses, especially MSMEs. The steps announced will boost liquidity, empower the entrepreneurs and strengthen their competitive spirit," the Prime Minister tweeted.
Ms Sitharaman said the government would offer collateral-free bank loans amounting to Rs 3 lakh crore to small businesses as part of measures to combat the damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
The government will also cut the tax rate for non-salary payments and provided liquidity to non-banking companies to help them tide over the virus lockdown. Also, dates for filing income tax returns and other assessments have been extended.
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