New Delhi: Discussing the ways to minimize the hardships being faced by the people throughout the country due to coronavirus pandemic, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh-headed Group of Ministers (GoMs) met for the fifth time on Saturday.
Sources in the government establishment said the GoM on coronavirus crisis also reviewed various measures that are being initiated by concerned ministries to allow partial economic activity in "non-hotspot zones" from April 20.
"Interacted with the GoM on the Covid-19 situation. We discussed ways to mitigate the hardships faced by the people and the role ministries can play in providing relief to people," Mr Singh said in a tweet.
Several opposition parties have demanded the government to announce specific welfare measures to help poor people as the lockdown has triggered job losses due to economic disruptions.
The guidelines to allow limited activities and the measures as announced by the Reserve Bank of India were also appreciated in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Civil Aviation Minsister Hardeep Singh Puri were also among those who attended the meeting.
India went under a total shutdown of 21 days from March 25 to April 14 to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extending the lockdown till May 3, adding the drastic measures would be relaxed in some areas from April 20.
On Wednesday, the Home Ministry issued detailed guidelines allowing certain sectors to resume their economic activities from April 20.
According to the Union Health Ministry, India has recorded a total of 14,378 coronavirus cases and 480 people lost their lives in the infection.
