The Maharashtra government will soon come out with a package to help small businesses and artisans, Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif said on Saturday.

Opposition BJP has demanded that the Shiv Sena-NCP- Congress government offer a package on the lines of the Centre to help those hit by the lockdown to contain coronavirus.

"Ministers have been demanding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announce a package for the `Bara Balutedar'," he said.

Bara Balutedar was a term originally used for various constituents of the village economy, including artisans.

"We are sure the Maharashtra government will soon declare a package which will stun the opposition," Mushrif told PTI over phone.

It will help small traders, rickshaw drivers, barbers, fruit vendors and others "who could not do business and whose dreams were destroyed in the past two months", said the NCP leader.

"The chief minister and deputy chief minister have started working on it," he added.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Mushrif dismissed the Centre's Rs 20 lakh crore package.

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"They declared Rs 3 lakh crore loan facility for MSMEs. Will banks give them money? Nobody gives money to them.

There is a big difference between spending and lending. This is nothing but loan facility, people are not going to benefit," he claimed.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil had on Friday demanded a Rs 50,000 crore package for those affected by the lockdown.

Also, catch all the latest updates and trends on the novel coronavirus with CNBCTV18's blog.

First Published:May 23, 2020 6:26 PM IST