Putting a country of over a billion people on lockdown has far-reaching consequences. When Modi gave the speech about the 21-day quarantine, it didn’t include specifics on exactly what kind of assistance those who are worst affected would get. According to NDTV, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced relief packages for those affected directly.
One of the main highlights was the announcement of Rs 3 lakh per person insurance for healthcare workers for 3 months.
Apart from this, she also made other assurances. The highlights of those were –
– A package for the poor who need immediate help, including migrant workers, urban and rural poor worth Rs 1.7 lakh crore.
– 80 crore people to benefit from Rs 1.70 lakh-crore package under PM Garib Kalyan scheme They will get either 5 KGs of rice or 5 KGs of wheat in next three months, in addition to existing allotment; 1 KG pulse of choice.
– Cash transfer will be made under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
– Wage increase under MGNREGA; from Rs 182 to Rs 202. 5 crore people to benefit, to lead to increase in income by Rs 2000.
– Rs 1,000 additional to be provided to poor senior citizens, widows, disabled in two instalments through DBT. 3 crore to benefit from this.
– 20.5 crore Jan Dhan accounts held by women to be credited with additional Rs 500 a month through DBT
It’s heartening to know that steps are finally being taken to address all the hardships people are facing currently.