Economists and commentators have almost unanimously described the finance minister’s Financial Action Plan dated 25-03-2020 as miserly, hopelessly insufficient and leaving out several crucial sections of the poor and vulnerable. The FM claimed that she will transfer under the plan Rs 1.7 lakh crore; she is wrong. We have costed the plan. The actual additional cash that will be transferred is Rs 60,000 crore plus the imputed value of Rs 40,000 crore of food grains from government stocks. Whichever number you take, the amount is less than 1 per cent of GDP, the lowest funding by any country. The categories of poor that were left out includes-tenant farmers, landless agricultural labour, MGNREGA workers who have not been allotted MGNREGA work, laid-off workers in industrial and service sectors, self-employed, self-help groups, male Jan Dhan account holders, pensioners, street people and destitute. That is why we have demanded an enlarged, generous and more inclusive FAP II
2. According to you what were the crucial steps economically and socially that the govt should have taken to contain the pandemic? How do you see the situation unfolding in a few days from now?