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India to Pay $22 Billion to Feed Poor Affected by Coronavirus

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - India has announced a $22.6 billion economic package to
   ensure that no one goes hungry during the nationwide coronavirus
   lockdown that has left tens of millions of poor people struggling
   without livelihoods.

   Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would provide
   food rations and cash transfers for three months to take care of "the
   welfare concerns of poor and suffering workers, and those who need
   immediate help."

   India's three-week lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus that
   started Wednesday put 1.3 billion people inside their homes and
   suspended virtually all economic activity.

   India has recorded 649 coronavirus infections and 13 deaths -- numbers
   that health experts warn are projected to spike in the same manner that
   some European countries and the United States have experienced.

   Worries are high about the devastating impact the shutdown will have on
   millions of poor people who work in the country's vast informal sector
   with no access to benefits and few savings to fall back on.

   Millions of migrant workers have streamed back from cities to their
   villages in recent days as commercial establishments and factories have
   shut down.

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