Social Justice Ministry proposes feeding centres for beggars in 10 cities amid lockdown

In a big move on Thursday, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment proposed to the Municipal Corporations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Indore, Patna, Nagpur and Lucknow to set up feeding centres for beggars with immediate effect till April 15. As per the Ministry, this would serve as a prelude to the Centre’s comprehensive plan to end the practice of beggary. The rationale for this proposal is that the beggars could face starvation due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to combat COVID-19. Writing to the respective Municipal Commissioners, the Ministry requested confirmation of the arrangements in this regard.

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The coronavirus crisis

Currently, there are 694 active COVID-19 cases in India while 16 individuals have died due to the pandemic. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a complete lockdown in the entire country for three weeks. Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled measures to ease the woes of the consumers and the corporate sector.

This included extending the last date to file IT returns and composition returns to June 30, making customs clearance an essential service, relaxing the mandatory requirement of board meetings for a period of 60 days and so forth. She followed this up on Thursday by unveiling a financial package worth Rs.1.7 lakh crore to address the needs of the migrant workers, urban and rural poor, women, specially-abled people, and farmers. Some of the key announcements are providing an insurance cover of 50 lakh rupees for health professionals, an increase in MNREGA wages, direct cash transfer to farmers, poor widows, poor senior citizens, and free gas cylinders to BPL families for the next three months. 

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