Home Minister Amit Shah chairs meet on COVID-19 situation in Delhi

File pic: Zee News

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (June 30) held a high-level meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country. AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, DG ICMR Balaram Bhargava, Dr VK Paul, and Union Home Secretary also attended this meeting.

The Home Minister reviewed the rising number of corona cases in Delhi and discussed the situation in Delhi's containment zones. Amit Shah also discussed with the team of doctors about steps being taken for the door to door testing in the containment areas.

The Home Minister also chaired a GoM (Group of Ministers) at North Block, in which FM Nirmala Sitaraman, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, and Commerce Minister Piyush goyal were present.

According to sources, the GoM talked about the plan to implement the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till November. The yojana was ending today.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi announced that his government will extend till the end of November, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, under which foodgrains are being provided to the poor and needy.

"The scheme will provide 80 crore people with free grains, will now be applicable in July, August, September, October, and November too. The government, during these five months, will give each family member 5-kilogram wheat or 5-kilogram rice free of cost, apart from this each family will get free one kg of chana (chickpeas) too every month," the PM said.

After PM Modi's announcement, the Home Minister said the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana by five months reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s commitment to the welfare of the poor.

Amit Shah tweeted, "Extension of Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana reflects the prime minister`s sensitivity to crores of poor people and his commitment to their welfare. Nobody slept hungry in a large country like India during the corona period, thanks to Modi Ji`s foresight and successful implementation of the scheme." 

"For facilitating free ration to the poor by extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the same time, I also thank the hardworking farmers and honest taxpayers of the country, whose hard work and dedication is benefitting the country`s poor people today," he further added.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also lauded PM Modi's commitment to the welfare of the poor. He tweeted, "The Prime Minister has given a big relief to the poor by announcing to extend the system of free ration to the poor to November end. This shows his sense of devotion to the welfare of the poor. I welcome this historic announcement."

"India is fighting the coronavirus pandemic with full force under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this crisis, the Prime Minister has expressed special concern that no poor family should sleep hungry. Nearly 800 million poor people have benefited through Garib Kalyan Yojana," Singh further added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi announced that his government will extend till the end of November, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, under which foodgrains are being provided to the poor and needy.

"The scheme will provide 80 crore people with free grains, will now be applicable in July, August, September, October and November too. The government, during these five months, will give each family member 5-kilogram wheat or 5-kilogram rice free of cost, apart from this each family will get free one kg of chana (chickpeas) too every month," the PM said.