NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has decided to transfer Rs 5,000 each to auto drivers, Gramin-Sewa and e-rickshaw drivers who are facing tough times due to the lockdown, CM Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. “As an aid to these people who do not have work, the Delhi government will transfer money to their accounts. This could take around a week to 10 days,” he said.
Delhi has over 1.13 lakh autorickshaws, as per the city’s Economic Survey 2018-19 report. Auto drivers comprise a major vote bank for the ruling AAP, which recently retained power. Meanwhile, the Delhi government has provided for lunch and dinner to more than six lakh people, Kejriwal said. “On April 1, we provided lunch to 5.85 lakh people and dinner to 5.79 lakh people at around 1,423 centres. We will start feeding 10-12 lakh people from tomorrow.
Upon further deliberations on this, we found out that people were crowding at the food centres. So we decided to open more centres” said Kejriwal. The AAP government received 1,367 calls or requests for food on Wednesday after which it ensured delivery of food packets. Nearly 2,500 schools and 250-night shelters have started distributing food to 500 people daily, taking the total number of distribution centres to nearly 2,800.