447: What Was The Govt’s Mindset Behind The 20 Lakh Crore Package?

Five sets of announcements over seven hours on legal and economic reforms, fiscal and liquidity measures summed up the government's 20 lakh crores worth relief package last week. The package have already been dissected, analysed and critically evaluated by experts and analysts but recently Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman too has given an insight into what led to these economic decisions. Was the package indeed 10 percent of India's GDP or far less? Shouldn't the government have introduced more direct cash transfers for immediate relief? Was the relief allocation sufficient? In interviews to news publications like The Indian Express (https://indianexpress.com/article/india/nirmala-sitharaman-interview-economic-package-msme-sector-migrant-workers-coronaviryus-lockdown-indian-economy-6418250/) and Business Standard, (https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/i-ve-to-be-careful-am-answerable-to-parliament-fm-nirmala-sitharaman-120052000084_1.html) Sitharaman has addressed some of the criticisms and questions about her relief package. So what was the government's mindset behind these announcements, is there anything else in the books? Tune in to The Big Story. Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Anjela Taneja, Campaign Lead Inequality, Education and Health at Oxfam India Aditya Menon, Political Editor, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=video_description) Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2oix78C&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=video_description) Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2ntMV7S&redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&v=xkpX1V6aUFo&event=vide