Current affairs

World Bank approves $1 billion aid to India to remedy the poor from the crisis!

By alagu, 15 May, 2020
India, Coronavirus, Nationwide lockdown, Economy.

In the wake of the rapid spread of the Coronavirus pandemic and a massive economic and health crisis triggered by the outbreak, the World Bank has, on Friday, announced that it has approved $1 billion aid for India to mitigate the hardship of the country's urban poor and migrant workers amid the lockdown. 

According to the reports, the fund of $1 billion (nearly Rs 7,500 crore) will be pushed as a social security technology fund. The World Bank said that the focus of this aid would be aiming to integrate hundreds of social security schemes of India at a technology level and India has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the World Bank during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Of the fresh $1 billion stimuli, $550 million will be financed by a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) - which is one of the World Bank's lending arms and $200 million will be provided to India as a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the rest $250 million will be provided by the World Bank after June 30, 2020. 

 

The fund will also aim to strengthen the revival plan for the MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) which will focus on the urban unorganized workforce. According to Junaid Ahmad, India's director of the World Bank, the project will be important to leverage social security towards urban and rural poor. 

Ahmad stated that this project will be supporting India's efforts for providing social assistance to poor and vulnerable households and added that Prime Minister Modi's 'Atmanirbhar mission' (Self-reliant India) is very important in terms of directions and the World Bank will be partnering with the Indian government in three areas - health, social protection, and MSMEs. 

The fresh aid of $1 billion is the second package from the World Bank to India as last month the bank allocated $1 billion to India for COVID-19 emergency response and health systems. It was provided to India to support the government's efforts on procuring personal protective equipment, setting up new isolation wards, contact tracing, and laboratory diagnostics. The second package has come at a high time when the Prime Minister announced the mega economic package.

On Tuesday, Narendra Modi announced Rs 20 lakh crore economic package, which is almost 10% of India's GDP, to balance the economic and health crisis and for the upliftment of migrants, poor, farmers, and self-employed who are being endured with the economic instability in the wake of the pandemic and nationwide lockdown.

 

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