The ASSOCHAM on Sunday said the Prime Minister’s Rs 20 lakh crore economic package, announced for dealing with COVID19 crisis, will provide relief to stressed businesses.
ASSOCHAM has described the emergent measures like one-year abeyance for the insolvency proceedings under IBC and further reducing company law compliance burden as hallmark of an agile and responsive government.
It said the medium to long term reforms would take India on the path of a fast recovery in the post pandemic period.
“The health and economic crisis of such a magnitude required confidence building measures which would have boosted the sentiment to face up to the challenge,” said ASSOCHAM secretary general Deepak Sood.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided a booster even as India Inc looks forward to significant relaxation of national lockdown in force since March 25,” said Sood.
“Getting back to economic activity and learning to live with the health emergency should enable the Indian economy bounce back fast,” he added.
According to Sood, the amendments in the IBC Act and the Companies Act, which would be effected through Ordinance routes, as announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, reflect a sense of urgency.
Exclusion of debts during Covid19 period and the extension of abeyance up to one year in IBC would provide relief to the companies which are over-leveraged, he added.
Wider de-criminalisation of provisions in the Companies Act would relieve India Inc of regulatory compliance, the ASSOCHAM secretary general observed.
He said a huge increase of Rs 40,000 crore in the outlays for the MNREGA taking the total to Rs 1 lakh crore for the current fiscal should provide immediate relief to the rural labour and economy.
“It is becoming clearer that the bounce back is going to be led by the rural economy comprising agriculture and allied sectors such as milk and fisheries and the industries related with the sector,” Sood said.
The ASSOCHAM secretary general said the announcement on the Public Sector Policy, clearly spelling out the role of the government-owned companies within a broad frame work of strategic sectors would help both the private sector as also the state firms.
“There is no conflict between the public and private sector.”
“The Finance Minister, presenting her fifth and final tranche of the PM’s economic package has clearly stated that the presence of the public sector would be ensured in the strategic sectors while the number may be capped, from the point of view of operational efficiency and other requirements.”
“It is a move aimed at getting the best out of our national assets, whether they are in public or private sector,” Sood said adding that both create jobs and national wealth.
He also said the focus on online education both at the school and university levels is the right and progressive approach.
“Technology is the best tool available with us for an outreach to 130 crore Indians.”
The initiatives like allowing universities to offer online programmes under automatic route would go a long way in making our education more inclusive and contemporary.
“This is the way forward for linking with the best educational institutions in the world,” he further said.