Today, India entered day 3 of its 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed by PM Narendra Modi in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus Covid-19. In times of hardship, the Delhi police have come forward to provide food and shelter to the poor and underprivileged.
Delhi Police along with locals were seen distributing freshly cooked food to destitute people in Sadar Bazar area in Delhi.
Delhi: Police, along with locals, distribute freshly-cooked food among the needy in Sadar Bazaar area, amid nationwide #CoronavirusLockdown. pic.twitter.com/UbxV7VkPwy
— ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2020
The Police Commissioner has directed all district Deputy Commissioners of Police to find areas where people are running out of food or are on the streets and help them. Following which, all the Station House Officers have got in touch with Resident Welfare Associations and NGOs in their area to facilitate the process.
The 21-days nationwide lockdown has especially affected people working in the unorganised sector. But the administration is working relentlessly to provide food and shelter to such people.
The government has reassured that India has sufficient grains such as wheat and rice for the country’s 1.3 billion people for the next four months. On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an initial 1.7 trillion rupee (US$22.5 billion) package chiefly targeting poor households, while prioritising food distribution.
Under the newly launched “Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana” (Prime Minister’s Poor Welfare Scheme), each individual who already benefited from a subsidised public distribution system will be able to receive an additional five kilograms of either wheat or rice, and each household will get one kilogram of pulses free of cost for the next three months. The package will benefit about 800 million people.
Direct cash transfers of between 500 and 2,000 rupees will also be made to the most economically vulnerable, such as farmers, daily wage labourers, construction workers, disabled people, poor widows, and women self-help groups.
“No one will go hungry”, promised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
