Tamil Nadu government to provide Rs 1,000 to ration card holders amid lockdown

Amid the much needed nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus COVIC-19, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on Thursday said that all ration cardholders in the state will be provided with Rs 1000 assistance from April 2 to 13. He added that people in the state are struggling to get essentials goods due to the lockdown, though essential commodities and services are being provided.

"Each ration cardholder will be provided with Rs 1,000 due to lockdown. People are struggling. So, all the essentials provided starting from today till April 13 will be provided," said Jayakumar.

"In Chennai, we have 18,32,158 ration cardholders. I thank the public for maintaining the social distance while standing in the queue," he added.

However, Jayakumar said that the government is taking stringent action against those who are breaking rules. "People should follow government rules and should not venture out unnecessarily," said the minister, adding that tokens are being provided to the public to avoid the crowd in ration shops.

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COVID-19 in India

India had already witnessed a surge in the number of coronavirus cases across the country and to add to the horror, the Tablighi Jamaat debacle has now posed a massive threat to the country as thousands of attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat Congregation at took place at Markaz Nizamuddin in Delhi have now spread across the length and breadth of the country from Jammu and Kashmir to Andaman and Nicobar islands, posing a massive risk of spreading the virus.

The nation is now witnessing an alarming surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. The number of positive cases in India has crossed the 2000 figure. As on April 2, the number of COVID-19 positive cases in India stands at 2,069, of which 53 have succumbed to the virus while 1,860 cases are still active; 155 have recovered and been discharged according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries including India have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its spread. As the virus is fast-contagious, social distancing is the need of the hour to contain the spread of the virus.

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