Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a consolidated economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore to help make India self-reliant in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and pitched for promoting local businesses, as he flagged that the deadly virus may be part of our lives for a long time. The nationwide COVID-19 tally in the meantime crossed 74,000.
The death toll also crossed 2,300, while nearly 24,000 people have recovered from the disease so far.
In his third address to the nation on COVID-19 crisis, Modi also said the fourth phase of the lockdown, beginning May 18, would be totally different with new rules and guidelines that would be announced later after taking into account feedback from all chief ministers.
Modi said the coronavirus cannot be allowed to dictate the people's lives even as experts have warned it is going to be a part of our lives for a long time.
Nearly 7,000 new cases have been detected since Monday morning while more than 100 people have lost their lives in this time period, as per the numbers made public by various states and union territories.
Several states including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi continued to report large number of new cases, including among those who have moved from other states in special trains and buses as also among those airlifted from abroad under a massive evacuation programme being undertaken by the government to bring back stranded Indians and expatriates from various countries.
While details of the economic package would be announced by the Finance Ministry over the next few days, beginning Wednesday, Modi said it would cover all sections of the society including corporates, cottage and small scale industries, MSMEs, labourers and the middle class.
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The consolidated package of Rs 20 lakh crore would include measures already announced by the government and the RBI so far to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. However, there was no clarity on from where these funds would come and what impact it might have on the fiscal health of the country.
Among various measures, the Finance Ministry had earlier announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore package, mainly for providing food grains and cash support to the poor.
In its daily update, the Union Health Ministry said the COVID-19 death toll rose to 2,293 and the positive cases climbed to 70,756, registering an increase of 87 deaths and 3,604 cases in the last 24 hours till Tuesday 8 AM.
However, a PTI tally of numbers announced by different states and UTs put the total number of confirmed cases much higher at 74,029 and the death toll at 2,338, as of 9 PM.
A day after interacting with chief ministers over the way forward in the battle against COVID-19, Modi said it is an unprecedented crisis, but we not only need to protect ourselves in this battle, but also have to keep moving forward.
He said the special economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore is equivalent to almost 10 per cent of India's GDP and it will provide a much needed boost for making India self-reliant. The package will also focus on land, labour, liquidity and laws, he said.
Leaders of the ruling party, BJP, pointed it was the biggest every package announced by any country.
Ever since its emergence in China last December, nearly 42 lakh people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus so far while more than 2.75 lakh people have lost their lives. India figures among the 15 biggest hit countries, while the US is the worst hit so far.
The prime minister further said several bold reforms are also needed to make the country self-reliant, so that the impact of crisis such as COVID can be negated in future.
These reforms include supply chain reforms for agriculture, rational tax system, simple and clear laws, capable human resource and a strong financial system. These reforms will promote business, attract investment, and further strengthen Make in India, he said.
Modi observed that the crisis has taught everyone the importance of local manufacturing, local market and local supply chains.
"All our demands during the crisis were met 'locally'. Now, its time to be vocal about the local products and help these local products become global," he said.
Modi said several experts and scientists have said that the virus is going to be part of our lives for a long time.
"But, it is also important to ensure that our life does-not revolve only around it," he said, while exhorting people to work towards their targets while taking precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
On the fourth stage of lockdown, he said that its contours will be completely different from those seen yet. On the basis of recommendations received from states, new rules will be framed, and information about the same will be conveyed before May 18, he said.
Modi had first announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown on March 24 during his first address to the nation on COVID-19. This was later extended till May 3 and then further till May 18 with some relaxations in the third phase, especially in areas with nil or less cases.
While the cases have continued to rise during the lockdown period, government officials have been saying that the tally could have been much higher but for the containment measures and a targetted testing strategy.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the testing capacity has increased to 1 lakh tests per day with 347 government laboratories and 137 private labs being used. Cumulatively, more than 17.6 lakh tests have been done so far.
There are also concerns that the outbreak may spread to rural areas with train services being resumed to take migrant workers and others stranded in different parts of the country to their native places.
So far, big urban centres including Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai have reported relatively larger number of cases, while the deadly virus outbreak has been detected in other parts of the country as well.
Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 1,026 new COVID-19 cases and 53 deaths, 28 of them in Mumbai alone, taking the overall case count to 24,427 and the number of fatalities to 921, a health department official said.
Of the total coronavirus cases and deaths recorded so far in the state, Mumbai alone accounts for 14,947 infections and 556 fatalities. Dharavi slum sprawl in Mumbai reported 46 new COVID-19 cases and one death, taking the case count to 962 and the number of fatalities to 31.
Gujarat reported 362 new COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths, including 21 in worst-hit Ahmedabad.
Tamil Nadu reported 716 fresh cases, pushing the state tally to 8,718.
The national capital also reported over 400 new cases and at least 13 more deaths. In Delhi, the government received around 3 lakh messages on WhatsApp within seven hours of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking suggestions from the people on lockdown relaxations post May 17. The government has also received 25,000 recorded messages and 5,000 e-mails.
In West Bengal, officials said at least eight people have died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll in the state to 126, while over 100 more people tested positive for the deadly virus.
Kerala, which had stopped seeing fresh cases till a few days back, saw five new cases as the flow of Keralites returning home from other countries and states continued.