Finance Minister Sitharaman guarantees the industries of a No lockdown situation

The sudden rise in the cases of covid 19 pans India has caused a lot of chaos.  Thousands of migrant workers have gathered around railway stations and bus depots. These migrant workers think that there might be a nationwide lockdown similar to what happened last year. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister, has contacted them giving an assurance that the government will not impose another lockdown. 

However, she told them that they will rather focus on creating containment zones. She also told them that there is no plan to bring the public transport to a halt.  She added that Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah are in contact with various state leaders and are keeping track of the availability of oxygen, medicines and medical facilities.

Sitharaman talked with businessmen and leaders of the Chamber of Commerce and asked for their suggestions regarding the industry and association-related matters. The leaders contacted include Tata Steel managing director T V Narendran, L&T chairman A M Naik, TCS managing director Rajesh Gopinathan, Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava, TVS Group chairman Venu Srinivasan and Hero Moto Corp managing director Pawan Munjal. 

The Finance Minister tweeted that the Centre is taking  steps to save lives and livelihoods of millions of people in India. She added that the government is countering covid-19 at various levels. Recently, the domestic economy has drastically decreased by 23.9 percent due to the pandemic in the first quarter (April-May) of the previous financial year. 

Last week, Sitharaman announced that she will be releasing a stimulus economic package which will help in easing the losses faced in the second wave of coronavirus and lockdowns. According to Hindustan Times, the package will be of great help to the poor as the second might disrupt their livelihood.  

The package might help in boosting the economy at a time when banks are severely hit by the second wave. According to Fitch, a rating agency, more than 80 per cent of the infections are in six prominent states where there is 45 percent of the banking sector loan. It also added that with the second wave, the recovery of the corporate and consumer market will be difficult and operation of banks might become a challenge. 

Currently, the covid cases are around 1.50 crore in total. In a single day, 2.73 lakh are reported according to the reports from the Union of Health Ministry.  The official report said that there are 2,73,810 new infections, 1,619 fatalities and 1,44,178 recoveries in 24 hours.