Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced two special schemes for government staff in a bid to boost consumer demand: a Leave Travel Concession-related cash voucher and a festival advance. The schemes are likely to lead to additional consumer demand of ₹ 36,000 crore by March 31, 2021, which will help those in need on account of the coronavirus pandemic. Employees of central and state governments as well as public sector companies will be able to use these schemes to spend money on festivals of their choice till March 31.