FM announces ₹50L insurance cover for healthcare staff, 1.7L Cr package for poor

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday (March 26) announced a comprehensive economic package, to minimise the economic impact of coronavirus on citizens, especially for the poor strata of society and healthcare workers who are in the frontline of the battle against the pandemic.

Sitharaman, who addressed a joint press conference with minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur announced a ₹50 lakh insurance cover for healthcare workers who are at the forefront of dealing with coronavirus pandemic. This includes sanitation workers, doctors, nurses, paramedics and ASHA workers.

The finance minister also announced a 1.79 lakh crore package to provide succour to the poor. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the government will provide an additional 5 kg of rice/wheat to almost 80 crore beneficiaries for the next three months through PDS.

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Farmers will be given the first instalment of ₹2,000 of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in the first week of April. Almost 8.69 crore farmers will benefit from it, Sitharaman said.

The minister also announced an increase in the wage rate from ₹182 to ₹202 for labourers under MNREGA, which will lead to an increase of ₹2000 per worker

She also announced an ex-gratia amount of ₹1,000 for the elderly and widows for the next three months. The amount which will benefit at least 3 crore beneficiaries will be given in two instalments.

The death toll in the COVID-19 epidemic in India went up to 15 as of March 26, with the death of a 70-year-old man in Gujarat, an old woman in Karnataka, and one each in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.

The total number of people who tested positive for the virus in India increased to 649, according to data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of them, 593 patients are currently undergoing treatment.

(With inputs from agencies)