India to spend $260B in relief package

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Tuesday that the government will spend more than $260 billion, the equivalent of nearly 10% of the country’s GDP, on a coronavirus economic relief package designed to make the world’s second most populous nation more self-reliant.

“The package’s main aim is to build a self-reliant India,” Modi said in a televised speech, adding that it will help the country compete globally.

Modi said the details of the package would be disclosed in the coming days.

Also on Tuesday, India reopened parts of its huge rail network, running a limited number of trains as it looks at easing a nearly seven-week lockdown despite a continuing rise in coronavirus infections.

Responding to the announcement of the relief package, the main opposition Congress party’s spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Modi had given the country and the media a “headline.”

“India is deeply disappointed by your utter lack of empathy, sensitivity & failure to address the woes of millions of migrant workers,” Surjewala tweeted while referring to Modi.

The lockdown that began March 25 prompted an exodus of workers to their ancestral homes in the countryside. Economists say unemployment reached 24.7% this week.

Last week some restrictions on manufacturing and self-employment were lifted to ease the burden on the poor. Social distancing norms officially remained in effect.

A new phase in the lockdown will begin May 18, when the current phase is set to end, Modi said.

“Coronavirus is going to be part of our lives for a long time. But we can’t let our lives revolve around it,” he said.

Modi gave the oft-repeated promise that this century will belong to India, pointing to the country quickly ramping up production of personal protective equipment, ventilators and other supplies in response to the pandemic.

“The crisis has shown the importance of a self-dependent India. This is the only way,” he said.

Meanwhile, special trains departed from several large cities, including New Delhi and Mumbai. Passengers were allowed to enter the stations only if they were asymptomatic and cleared thermal screening.

They are required to maintain social distancing on board and are given hand sanitizers when they enter and leave.

Indian Railways also is requiring that passengers download a government-run contact tracing smartphone app before boarding the train. Critics say the Aarogya Setu app endangers civil liberties in how it uses location services and centralizes data collection.

Thousands of passengers waited in long, serpentine queues outside New Delhi’s railway station, the hub of India’s rail network. Police in riot gear tried to maintain social distancing and citizen volunteers offered water bottles to passengers who lugged heavy bags. Station workers sanitized the area with disinfectants.

“I don’t care about what happens next. At least I will be with my family,” said Ram Babu Kumar Singh, who works as an air conditioning mechanic in New Delhi but whose home is in eastern Bihar state. “If I stay here for long, I will die.”

The decision to open select train lines was made Sunday as India considers easing the strict lockdown of its 1.3 billion people that has left millions stranded in cities. The announcement led to a mad rush for online bookings on Monday as more than 45,000 people purchased train tickets within hours of the start of sales, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.