Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation at 4 pm today and made some significant announcements regarding phase 2 of lockdown.
Prime Minister began his speech talking about the coronavirus situation in the country. He alarmed people to be careful as the monsoon is approaching the country. He also urged people to maintain hygiene and not take the situation lightly.
In the view of the pandemic steeply increasing the difficulties of the poor and underprivileged, the Prime Minister announced that the Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana will be extended till the end of November. As close to 80 crore people in the country are going to be benefitted by the move. All the 80 crore families will be provided with 5 kilograms of either rice or wheat for each member of the family each month. This move will reportedly cost the government over 90 thousand crores.
The Prime Minister also announced that the preparations for One Nation One Ration Card have begun. Any residing citizen of India can use his ration card in any part of the country. This is likely to benefit millions of migrant workers who travel around the country for work.
18000 Crore Deposited in 9 Crore Farmers Account
Apart from this, the Prime Minister also applauded the efforts of various state governments in their efforts to curb the spread of the disease. He also spoke about the efforts of the central government. He said,
“Under Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Yojana, we announced a package of Rs. 1.75 lakh crore. In the last 3 months, Rs. 31,000 crore deposited in bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Also, Rs. 18000 crore deposited in bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers.”
He also warned the citizens who were violating the social distancing norms. He said,
“During the lockdown, rules were strictly abided by. Now, governments, local administration, and citizens again have to show similar caution. We need to have a special focus on containment zones. If you see someone flouting norms, tell them to not do so.”
India has so far reported 5,68,473 positive cases out of which 2,15,838 are active right now. More than 3,35,656 patients have recovered successfully. India has reported 16,919 deaths so far.
