By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 21, 2020: UNION Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that the Government trusts industry fully and comprehensively. She urged industry to plan for engaging labour with a more professional approach and engage in skilling. "Mindsets in industry need to set examples in handling workers in a way that is acceptable to all," stated the Finance Minister.

The Finance Minister was speaking at an interaction through video conferencing with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which is marking 125 years of its existence in 2020. Felicitating CII on this milestone, Ms Sitharaman said that CII has played a critical role in the country and its members have played strong roles in their own sectors. She exhorted CII to stand out as an exemplar in the policymaking process.

The interaction had the participation of Mr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Mr Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, MCA, Mr Debasish Panda, Secretary, Department of Financial Service, Dr. T. V. Somanathan, Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Mr Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Mr Tarun Bajaj, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser.

Industry needs to reset its relations with workers and plan for labour including unskilled labour, said the Finance Minister. She requested industry to consider a professional manner in the terms for engaging unskilled workers and work towards the skilling of employees at all levels.

On a question regarding the MSME sector, Ms Sitharaman stated that before Covid19 as well, clear handholding was announced for MSME and NBFCs to help enterprises in rural areas. She stated that credit availability for additional term loan and working capital loan was intended to reach all MSME, and hence the Government has provided a guarantee to banks to overcome hesitation in lending. "When Government provides full and partial guarantees with a special purpose vehicle post-lockdown, the banks hesitation has been addressed," she said.

Responding to a question on agriculture, the Finance Minister mentioned that comprehensive reforms have been announced. Three model Acts have been shared with State governments. She stated that many states have commenced on land reforms.