Bihar provides financial assistance to its natives residing in other states amid lockdown

Amid the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis, Bihar is providing financial assistance to its natives, becoming the first state in the country to do so. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi on Thursday, April 16 stated that Rs 1,000 has been sent to each of the 6.67 lakh account holders who are residing in different states of the country. He added that the amount is being sent to the remaining 6.59 lakh of the total 13.26 lakhs applications. 

Along with it, he mentioned that over 60,000 people have contacted the Bihar government for help. In an official release, the Deputy CM said, "We are in a process to contact all such people and an SMS has been sent to their phone to know their Aadhar number and details of the bank accounts." 

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Sushil Modi's appeal to people 

The Deputy Chief Minister on Thursday appealed to the people from Bihar who are residing in other states to stay where they are. He said, "Bihar government is coordinating with other state governments to provide all the possible help to people from the state residing in respective states. Stay back where you are now. Families of such people are requested to ask them to motivate them to stay back where they are now."

Currently, in Bihar, there are a total of 83 positive cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19, out of which 37 have been reportedly recovered, while one person has been reported to have died due to the infection. 

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India extends lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Tuesday announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 in order to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus. He addressed the nation on April 14 as the ongoing pan-India lockdown entered its 21st day.

Meanwhile, according to the latest update of the Union Health Ministry, there are currently a total of 12,759 cases of coronavirus in the country including about 10,824 active cases. While 420 deaths have been reported overall, around 1,515 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Read: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announces door to door screening in 4 districts to detect COVID-19

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