Chandigarh May, 13: Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal has expressed hope that about 50 thousand MSME units in the State would get a benefit of approximately Rs. 3000 crore after the announcement made by Union Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman for earmarking an amount of Rs. 3 lakh crore as collateral-free loan for MSMEs in the first phase of economic package announced today. Similarly, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman has also announced sub-ordinate loan of Rs. 20 thousand crore for stressed MSMEs, which will also benefit around 3000 units in Haryana, he added.

The Chief Minister was interacting with the mediapersons during the press conference held through Live TV here today. Speaking on the occasion he said that this is the first phase of the economic package for MSMEs and the Central Government would share more information with the states in the days to come. He said that this is a new beginning to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream to make the country self-reliant and for this the Chief Minister has thanked Prime Minister.

Slamming the opposition for raising eye brows over procurement of Wheat and Mustard, the Chief Minister said that they are highlighting the issue unnecessarily. During the tenure of the previous government, procurement was never done efficiently. Till now an amount of Rs. 2000 crore has been transferred to the accounts of Arhtiyas through the pool account and by this evening Rs. 3900 crore would also transferred and the payment would be made as soon as I- Form gets generated, the Chief Minister added.

After issuance of I-Form, Arhtiyas would transfer the money in the accounts of farmers within in a period of two three days. This is a mutually agreed arrangement between the farmer and Arhtiya, he added.

He said that e-procurement has been done by linking the entire procurement process with ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’. He said that execution of this new system has certainly taken some time, but it has also brought absolute transparency in the procurement process. He said that in view of COVID-19 Pandemic, additional Procurement Centers have been setup by the State Government. He further informed that after the crop purchase, farmers’ payment would be transferred into their accounts in five-six days.

He said that the procurement of Mustard is being made through HAFED and till now an amount of Rs. 1200 crore has been transferred to the farmers’ accounts. The crops are procured at Minimum Support Price (MSP), he informed.

The Chief Minister said that during the lockdown period, the State Government has launched a new ‘Mera Paani Mera Virsat’, scheme aimed to conserve water. Farmers of the paddy-rich areas where the depth of groundwater level has exceeded 40 meters have been urged not to sow paddy in 50 percent area, for which they would get an incentive of Rs 7000 per acre. He said that we must conserve water for future generations. He said that alternative crops including maize and pulses would be procured at Minimum Support Price.

While, stating that the present Government’s priority is to bring transparency in the systems and curb corruption while using information technology, the Chief Minister said that even during lockdown, around 20 thousand local committees have been conducting door to door surveys. He said that under ‘Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samridhi Yojna’ (MMPSY), financial assistance of Rs. 3000-5000 has been transferred in the accounts of 16 lakh 20 thousand families. Thus, a financial assistance of Rs. 619 crore has been provided by the State Government, he informed. The process to provide assistance to about 4 to 5 lakh more families is going on.

The Chief Minister said that industrial and economic activities are being re-started in a phased manner after the lockdown as per the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

He said that the State Government has also made arrangements to send migrant labourers back to their native states. So far, about one lakh migrants have been sent through special trains and buses. He said that before sending migrant labourers to their home states, it is very necessary to get permission from their respective home states, and only after that arrangements are made to send migrant labourers.

While answering another question about the way forward with OVID-19 with the extension of the lockdown, the Chief Minister said that COVID-19 is a communicable disease which is why every precaution is being taken along with following the norms of social distancing and sanitization. We have also urged the Central Government to allow the re-opening of educational institutions with necessary instructions, he added.

He said that on selected routes, special bus services would be started from Friday. For now, these buses would not ply outside Haryana and inside COVID affected areas.

He said the Central Government has informed that the definition of containment zone has been changed and now the area of containment would be smaller while activities would be started in rest of the areas so that people can return to work while following the norms of social distancing along with other precautions. He said that teams have been constituted for formulating district centric scheme to combat the spread of COVID-19.

In a reply to another question, he said that we are stopping those migrant labourers who are crossing Haryana enroute to their respective home states, they are being kept in relief camps and all arrangements are being made for providing food and shelter. Further arrangements for sending these migrant labourers to their home states in a phased manner will be made.