Modi apologises for 21-day lockdown hardships
NEW DELHI (AP):
INDIAN PRIME Minister Narendra Modi apologised to the public on Sunday for imposing a threeweek national lockdown, calling it harsh but “needed to win” the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
“I apologise for taking these harsh steps that have caused difficulties in your lives, especially the poor people,” Modi said in his monthly address, broadcast by state radio. “I know some of you will be angry with me. But these tough measures were needed to win this battle.”
The unprecedented lockdown order, which came into effect on Wednesday to keep India’s 1.3 billion people at home for all but essential trips to places like markets or pharmacies, is meant to prevent the spread of the virus from surging and overwhelming India’s alreadystrained healthcare system.
CRAMPED CONDITIONS
Indian health officials have confirmed 867 cases of the coronavirus, including 25 deaths. Experts have said local spreading is inevitable in a country where tens of millions of people live in dense urban areas in cramped conditions with irregular access to clean water.
The lockdown has caused tens of thousands of people, mostly young male day labourers but also families, to flee their New Delhi homes, and has effectively put millions of Indians who live off daily earnings out of work.
Rickshaw drivers, itinerant produce peddlers, maids, day labourers and other informal workers form the backbone of the Indian economy, comprising around 85 per cent of all employment, according to official data. Many buy food with the money they make each day and have no savings to fall back on.
Untold numbers are now out of work, and many families have been left struggling to eat.
Pressure is mounting on the government to find measures to keep people in their homes rather than travelling across large swathes of India, potentially bringing the virus to areas that are not yet affected.
“Thousands of migrants workers have been forced to leave their rented homes as they are unable to pay rent. It is important that the government intervenes and provides them money for their rent immediately,” Rahul Gandhi, a member of parliament and leader of the opposition National Congress Party, said in a letter to Modi on Sunday.