Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held important meetings with key ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and top government officials to discuss a second stimulus package for sectors hit by coronavirus lockdown. The finance ministry will make a detailed presentation to PM Modi later in the day on the state of economy and several measures it plans to take to ensure economic recovery.
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The PM has already held meetings with different ministries including civil aviation, labour and power on Friday to discuss steps for economic recovery. On Thursday, PM Modi held detailed discussions with commerce and MSME ministries on ensuring both domestic and overseas investment and revival of small businesses in the country. Both home and finance ministers were present in these meetings.
In March end, the government outlined a Rs 1.7-lakh crore ($22.6-billion) economic stimulus plan providing direct cash transfers and food security measures to give relief to millions of poor hit by the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown.
Now, the government plans to announce a second dose of relief measures for the segment and a stimulus package for India Inc.
The lockdown shut businesses, stopped air and rail travel and restricted movement of people and goods.
The government, on Friday, extended the lockdown by another two weeks in the wake of rising cases of novel coronavirus in the country. The third stage of lockdown will start on May 4 and will end on May 17.
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However, this time some activities would be allowed after classifications of districts into 'Red', 'Orange' and 'Green' zones based on COVID-19 risk profiling.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi first announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown on March 25, which was later extended by two more weeks to contain the virus spread. All major urban centres, including Delhi and Mumbai, have been identified as 'red zones' or areas with large numbers of cases. The Centre formulated 733 zones which included 130 red zones, 284 orange zones, and 319 green zones.
By Aseem Thapliyal