Covid-19 relief package touches every weaker section: Shah

Lauding the government's move to release the Rs 170,000 crore Covid-19 relief package for the weaker sections of society, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that it reflected the Narendra Modi government's sensitivity and it would benefit migrant workers and the rural poor and women.

New Delhi:Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Thursday lauded the first Rs 170,000 crore Covid-19 relief package announced to protect the weaker sections of society, saying it reflected the Narendra Modi government's sensitivity.

Shah's remark came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the relief package declaring the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana would benefit migrant workers and the rural poor and women.

"Today, the decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for every section of the poor, farmers, labourers, elderly, women and Divyangs, affected by the coronavirus epidemic, reflected the sensitivity of the government. I thank the Prime Minister for this," Shah said in a series of tweets.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the Rs 50 lakh health insurance to all the Covid-19 warriors.

Referring to the decision to supply 5 kg wheat and 5 kg rice per person in addition to 1 kg pulse for the next three months to 80 crore poor under the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana', Shah said, "With this decision, no poor in the country will go without food."

Shah said that the Modi government had decided to deposit the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to farmers' account in the first week of April to extend relief to poor farmers during the Covid-19 pandemic. "More than 8 crore farmers will be benefited by this," he said.

Covid-19 has claimed 15 lives and infected over 600 people across the country.

On the decision to pay Rs 500 to 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders and free gas to 8.3 crore Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries for three months, Shah said the move displayed how the Modi government had taken the burden of feeding the poor.

He also praised the step to increase loan from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh to 63 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the National Livelihood Mission.

"The government has decided to give an additional Rs 1,000 to the elderly, widows and disabled. This money will go directly to their bank accounts through direct benefit transfer. It will benefit around 3 crore people," he said.

The relief package was announced two days after the Prime Minister announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown till April 14 to break the spread chain of Covid-19 that has killed over 20,000 and infected 3.80 lakh across the globe.

(IANS Report)