The Indian Central Government announced a massive relief package of $22 Billion for the welfare of the weaker sections of the society from the consequential economic turmoil of COVID-19 today, by Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman.
While announcing the sanction of relief funds, she said the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana (Prime Minister Scheme for Poor Labourers) will be beneficial for not only women and people in the rural areas, but also for migrant workers who have left their home state in search of labour work and survive on daily wages.
The Minister said this scheme and funds of USD 22 Billion will be implemented via direct cash transfer as one set of measures, while another set will include food security-related measures.
Mrs. Sitharaman stated “We do not want anyone to remain hungry, so we will be giving enough to take care of their food-grain requirement, protein requirement in terms of pulses. On the other hand, they should also not remain without money in hand. So several measures through DBT are being taken so that money reaches them so that they can have money in their hands.”
This is a welcome move by the Indian Government which is a developing nation, and is yet managing to care for the class of people belonging to the lower strata of economy. An efficient implementation of this will truly be a blessing for daily wage workers and agriculturists in rural areas of the country who would have otherwise suffered from the global economic setback, not just in terms of livelihood but also in terms of health.
This sanction of funds comes as a relief to citizens who had taken to social media to strongly express their concerns for the working class after the Prime Minister had announced a 21 day lockdown of the country earlier this week.
