Only direct cash transfers can revive economy

The Indian nation today is reeling under a double whammy—a twin crisis, as never before experienced after 1947. On the one hand, there is the continuation of the economic tailspin generated over the last four years. This has caused a decline of the economy. Upon this is now thrust the thunderstorm caused by the onset of an imported pandemic called coronavirus and its latest species—covid-19. As far as the coronavirus pandemic is concerned, the Narendra Modi government has handled the situation well and decisively. Coronavirus infection rates may be understated or underestimated in India, but the significant figure is of the number of deaths due to the virus. In a democracy like ours, this is not easy to underestimate: culturally, no Indian desires to hide the fact of a death in a family, so socially a death in the family becomes known to friends and acquaintances even if censorship were to be clamped on the country.

In comparison with G-20 countries, the coronavirus casualty numbers in India, presently at about