The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all across the world. Through the entire COVID-19 period and the lockdown in the country, the Government of India was clear on one thing- the poor have to be protected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday
“The ‘Pradhan MantriGaribKalyanYojana’ for India's poor is among the largest support system seen anywhere globally. Free foodgrain is being provided to 800 million people. This scheme operates for eight months. Eight-hundred million people means more than double of USA's population,” Modi said in his special keynote address at the US-ISPF US-India Summit 2020 through a video conference on Thursday.
The Theme of the five-day summit which began on August 31 is “US-India Navigating New Challenges”.
In his address, Modi also said that “free cooking gas is being provided to around 80 million families. Cash support has been provided to around 345 million farmers and needy people. The scheme has given much-needed employment for migrant workers by creating almost 200 million person-days of work”.
Modi said that the global pandemic has impacted everyone and that “it is testing our resilience, our public health systems, our economic systems”.
“The current situation demands a fresh mindset. A mindset where the approach to development is human centric. Where there is a spirit of cooperation between everyone… the country is focussing on ramping up capacities, securing the poor and future proofing our citizens,” the prime minister added.
The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (US-ISPF) is a non-profit organization that works for the partnership between India and the United States.
