On Wednesday, the government released Rs 6,195 crore to 14 states as a monthly installment to enhance their resource during COVID 19 crisis. This is the third equated monthly installment of the post devolution revenue deficit grant.
The office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweet said “The government on June 10, 2020, released Rs 6,195 crore to 14 states as the third monthly installment of the post-devolution revenue grant as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. at the backdrop of the current pandemic situation, this would be an additional resource,”. The grant comes at a time when the state is facing a scarcity of funds amid the COVID pandemic. Earlier on 3rd April, the ministry had released the same amount as the first installment of ‘Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant’ to 14 states. And on May 11, the second time the same amount was released as a post-devolution revenue deficit grant. The 14 states are Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Kerala, Tripura, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Nagaland, Punjab, Mizoram, and Tripura. Of the 14 states, the maximum grant in aid has gone to Kerala an amount of Rs 1,277 crore and followed by Himachal Pradesh with a revenue deficit grant of Rs 953 crore.
To restore economic activity and minimize losses to its citizen due to disruptions caused by lockdowns, the money has been released ahead of schedule and as a special dispensation to meet immediate funding needs of the state government. The release of the same amount in May was to help state governments take preventive and mitigation measures for containment of coronavirus outbreak. It includes sample collection, arranging quarantine facilities, screening, and creating additional testing laboratories. In the third equated monthly installment of the post-devolution revenue grant, much of the amount is expected to be used by state governments towards paying the salaries to their staff as sharp fall in tax collections in April has been observed and put pressure on their accounts.
The lockdown from the last 3 months had adversely affected the economy and brought many challenges like recession, layoffs, etc. The government has taken measures to kickstart the economy and boost the production, whereas the vaccine is still in a development stage, let’s see how long the journey is of crisis.
