Modi Seeks 'forgiveness' From India's Poor Over COVID-19 Lockdown Covid-19 Lockdown

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the nation's broke appropriate to forgiveness, as the economic including human toll from his 21-day nationwide lockdown deepens including criticism mounts over a lack about adequate planning ahead about the decision.

"I apologise appropriate to taking these harsh steps that own caused difficulties in your lives, especially the broke people," Modi said in his monthly address summit of|supported by} Sunday, broadcast summit of|supported by} nation radio.

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"I know some about you drive be cross with me. But these tough measures were needed to win this battle."

Modi announced an unprecedented three-week lockdown - the world's largest - which came into effect summit of|supported by} March 25 to curb the spread about the .

But the decision has stung millions about India's poor, leaving many hungry including forcing jobless immigrant labourers to flee cities including walk hundreds about kilometres to their native villages.

The broke "would definitely be thinking what kind about prime minister is this, who has put us into so a lot trouble," he said, urging people to comprehend there was no other option.

"Steps taken so far … drive give India success over corona," he added.

The number about confirmed coronavirus cases in India rose to 979 summit of|supported by} Sunday, with 25 deaths.

The executive announced a $22.6bn economic stimulus plan summit of|supported by} Thursday to give direct cash transfers including cooking handouts to India's poor. A quarter about India's 1.3 billion people live below the poverty line.

In an feeling piece published summit of|supported by} Sunday, Abhijit Banerjee including Esther Duflo - two about the three winners about the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2019 - said even more aid appropriate to the broke is needed.

"Without that, the demand crisis drive snowball into an economic avalanche, including people drive own no choice but to defy orders," they wrote in the Indian Express.

The lockdown is expected to exacerbate India's economic woes at a time when growth had already slumped to its slowest pace in six years.

'No contingency plans'

There still appears to be broad support appropriate to strong measures to avoid a coronavirus catastrophe in India, a country where the public health system is poor.

But resistance leaders, analysts including some citizens are increasingly criticizing its implementation. In particular, they say the executive appears to own been caught off guard by the mass movement about migrants following the announcement, which threatens to spread the disease into the hinterlands.

"The Gov't had no contingency plans in place appropriate to this exodus," tweeted resistance statesman or woman or person Rahul Gandhi as images about immigrant labourers walking long distances to return home dominated local media.

#ModiMadeDisaster was a top trending topic in India summit of|supported by} Sunday summit of|supported by} Twitter.

Police said well migrants were killed summit of|supported by} Saturday when a juggernaut ran into them in the western nation about Maharashtra. Also summit of|supported by} Saturday, a immigrant worker collapsed including died in the northern nation about Uttar Pradesh, according to a police official.

"We drive die about walking including starving before getting killed by corona," said immigrant worker Madhav Raj, 28, as he walked along the road in Uttar Pradesh.

On Sunday, several hundred migrants in the town about Paippad, in southern Kerala state, gathered in a square trying transport back to their hometowns.

The central executive has called summit of|supported by} states to give marooned labourers with cooking including shelter, including Modi's supporters slammed nation governments summit of|supported by} Twitter appropriate to failing to properly implement the lockdown.

In India's cities, too, anger was rising.

"We own no cooking or drink. I am sat to the other end of thinking how to feed my family," said homemaker Amirbee Shaikh Yusuf, 50, in Mumbai's sprawling Dharavi slum.

"There is nothing good about this lockdown. People are angry, no one is caring appropriate to us."

 

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