After reports of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (Friday) to finalise the second stimulus package, sources told CNBC that the meeting has been postponed and is likely to happen next week.
Earlier, last month Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore economic stimulus package titled the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana’ to help the poor and migrants tackle the financial difficulties arising because of the national lockdown.
"No one will go hungry", she had declared and added that the immediate focus is on alleviating the hardships of the migrant workers and the urban and the rural poor.
Sitharaman had said that the scheme will work through cash transfers and lays special thrust on providing food security to the poor and the women. Eighty crore people will benefit under the scheme.
The FM had also announced a medical insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh per person for three months for those on the frontline of the fight against the deadly coronavirus outbreak, including doctors, nurses and sanitation workers.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 cases crossed 23,000 mark - at 23,077. There are 17610 active cases, 4749 cured/discharged/migrated and 718 deaths, said the Union Health Ministry on Friday morning.
