homehealthcare NewsRahul Gandhi discusses India's coronavirus response with Abhijit Banerjee: Here are the highlights

Rahul Gandhi discusses India's coronavirus response with Abhijit Banerjee: Here are the highlights

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has said that India should take a cue from the United States and put more money into the hands of people to revive demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown.

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By CNBC-TV18 May 5, 2020 10:13:33 AM IST (Published)

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Rahul Gandhi discusses India's coronavirus response with Abhijit Banerjee: Here are the highlights
Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has said that India should take a cue from the United States and put more money into the hands of people to revive demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown.

Benerjee was in conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over video conferencing. The interaction was hosted over Periscope and Gandhi posted it on his Twitter account on Tuesday morning.
Here are the highlights from the Gandhi-Banerjee interaction:
  • If anyone wanted to believe in strongman theory, this is the time to disabuse themselves
  • We need to be aware of disease's path before taking decision on lifting lockdown
  • We should take a cue from US by pumping in more money in the hands of people to revive demand
  • We should try to be optimistic about overall economic revival in India post-lockdown
  • Aadhaar-based claims for PDS
  • Give temporary ration cards to everybody; use those for transferring money, wheat and rice to them
  • It is important to revive demand, nothing bad will happen if we give bottom 60 percent with more money
  • India needs a stimulus package; we have not dedicated on large enough financial package yet
  • Gandhi: States should be given options; should be allowed to decide themselves on lockdown
  • Banerjee shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics with his wife Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty".
    This is a second interaction of its kind that Gandhi has hosted with an eminent economist on the topic of India’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, he was in conversation with former Reserve Bank of India chief Raghuram Rajan, who advocated for a Rs 65,000 crore package for the poor.
    India remains under lockdown until May 17. More than 46,000 people have been infected in the country and 1,568 deaths have been reported so far.

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