Government swiftly arranges food and monetary support for working class.
The state of Telangana in Southern India will be under a lockdown till March 31, 2020 in light of the Coronavirus. The state has reported 22 cases of the virus and is now set to take drastic measures to control the transmission any further. The capital city of Telangana is Hyderabad which is the 2nd largest Information Technology hub of India and is home to branches of several MNCs, which causes influx of employees from all over the world for either a short period or otherwise. Socially speaking, a large population of this prosperous state has multiple family members who work/live in the USA and other countries – this increases their travel to the state and thus a chance of transmission.
In a welcome move, the Government has decided to close inter-State borders during the period and no vehicles, including inter/intra buses – government or private, vehicles/taxis – government or private would be allowed inside the State. Only goods vehicles carrying essentials like medicines/utilities would be allowed entry into the State upon scrutiny.
The Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced that the State would be under lockdown till the end of March to combat the worldwide epidemic COVID 19. He has asserted to the people of his state to cooperate with the government regulations for the next few days, just like the Prime Minister’s Janata Curfew was successfully adhered to by Indian citizens.
Mr. Rao has presented a very efficient financial system for the next nine days, keeping in mind the working class who either have limited access to home supplies or cannot afford them. His regulations mention that except for essential services like health, medical and power supply, the State would be under lockdown for the next nine days – the Chief Minister said. For the welfare of the working class, he said the government would arrange a supply of 12 kg rice per Ration Card (A card issued to poor Indian citizens to avail subsidies on home supplies) through public distribution system free of cost to these families. In addition to this, an amount of ₹ 1,500 each that would be delivered at their doorsteps.