Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that free ration will be supplied to all ration card holders for next two months and a one-time financial aid for auto and taxi drivers. All autorickshaw drivers and taxi drivers will be given Rs 5,000 each by the Delhi government so that they get a little help during this financial crisis.
Over 1,56,000 autorickshaw, taxi drivers are expected to get a benefit from the scheme. The free-ration scheme is expected to help over 72 lakh people in the national capital.
He, however, said that this did not mean the lockdown would last two months. He explained that citizens should not interpret this as an extension of the lockdown that was imposed in the national capital three weeks ago to help break the chain of Covid-19 transmission. The government hopes that it will not last long and it can reopen soon as the number of infections decrease, he said.
The lockdown has created a financial crunch for daily wagers and construction workers. Last week, the government gave Rs 5,000 each to (registered) construction workers and gave orders for financial help to those falling ill. The Delhi government has decided that all ration card holders will get free ration for the next two months. Auto and taxi drivers would earn on a daily basis as well. They don’t have any big savings pools either. Because of the lockdown over the past few weeks, they have no income. Like last year, the Delhi government has decided to give Rs 5,000 to them to ease some financial pressures. Last year, 1.56 lakh drivers received this help, Kejriwal said.
Delhi reported 18,043 new cases of Covid-19 infections on Sunday. The number of cases dipped with a positivity rate of around 30 per cent. Before this, Delhi was recording an average of 25,000 cases per day.