CIVIL SNIPPETS

India records another spike with 3,875 new cases, 194 deaths #GS3 #SnT

India registered its highest surge in COVID-19 cases and casualties on Tuesday, with 3,875 cases and 194
deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of cases nationwide stands at 46,711, with 1,583 deaths.
India has 31,967 active cases currently.

“So far, a total of 13,160 people have been cured. This takes our total recovery rate to 27.41%,” the
Union Health Ministry said at the daily press briefing.

Reporting backlog: govt.

Explaining the rise in cases, Joint Secretary in the Ministry Lav Agarwal said, “We persuaded certain
States, which were not updating regularly to release their backlog, which has resulted in a spike in
numbers.”

He added that as this is the highest spike in the number of confirmed cases and deaths that has been
reported so far, the States/UTs are advised to effectively implement contact tracing, active case search
and clinical management of cases. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi continue to have the
largest number of cases.
However, according to data from the State Health Departments, the total number of cases was 49,287,
of which 33,877 are active. The death toll was 1,677.

Gujarat reported a single-day spurt of 368 cases and 49 deaths, with Ahmedabad recording the bulk of
fatalities (39). Maharashtra reported 841 new cases and 34 deaths, taking the overall case count to
15,525 and the number of fatalities to 617. Mumbai reported 26 deaths.

Earlier in the day, the COVID Group of Ministers (GoM) met to review the availability of PPEs, masks,
ventilators, drugs and other essential equipment.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/india-records-another-spike-with-3875-new-cases-194-
deaths/article31514036.ece

AI to charge commercial fares from stranded Indians #GS3 #Economy

Indian citizens, returning from the Gulf and Southeast Asian countries in the first batch of evacuation
flights, beginning May 7, will be charged commercial fares of upto Rs. 1,00,000 per ticket.

According to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri, flights from Chicago, San Francisco,
Newark and Washington will cost nearly Rs. 1,00,000. A flight from London to Mumbai, Ahmedabad,
Bengaluru and New Delhi will cost Rs. 50,000 per passenger, tickets from Dubai will cost Rs. 13,000 and
from Abu Dhabi Rs. 15,000. Flights from Singapore and Malaysia will cost Rs. 20,000.

The entire operation will be managed by Air India. Passengers will also have to pay for quarantine
facilities on their return, but a final decision will be taken by the State governments, he told
journalists.

To a question why passengers were being charged airfares on par with commercial rates, Mr. Puri said,
“It is equivalent to a commercial service. The exchequer doesn't have the space to bear the cost of
repatriation. The service is being carried out by air carriers, which will have to go empty one way. Air
India is already receiving government subsidy; we can't subsidise this travel on the taxpayer's money.
Equally, if you look at the financial situation of other airlines, they are living a hand-to-mouth situation
and are in a precarious situation. Every month, I have to seek an injection of Rs. 500 crore-Rs. 600
crore.”

64 flights

As many as 80% of the flights planned will be sent to the Gulf countries and Southeast Asia. A large
chunk of these flights will be destined for Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Air India will operate 64 flights between May 7 and 13, Mr. Puri said during the video conference with
journalists. He added that the government would consider roping in private carriers in subsequent
phases.

These flights will bring back 14,800 Indians. Fifteen flights will return 3,150 persons to Kerala, 11 flights
will bring back 2,150 to Tamil Nadu, 1,750 will return to Telangana in seven flights, 650 will return to
Karnataka in three flights, and 3,100 passengers are estimated to return to Delhi in 11 flights.

Some of the flights from India may also ferry foreign nationals, including those who hold visas in a
foreign country at least for a year, U.S. green card and OCI card holders.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ai-to-charge-commercial-fares-from-stranded-
indians/article31514033.ece

India needs a big stimulus package: Abhijit Banerjee #GS3 #Economy

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee in a conversation with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, an
edited video of which was released by the Congress on Tuesday, said India needs a large enough
stimulus package to increase spending and revive demand to face the challenge posed by the COVID-19
pandemic.

From putting money in people’s hands to reviving demand and from issuing temporary ration cards
for providing foodgrains to cancelling debt, Prof. Banerjee offered a range of suggestions to absorb
the shock of a prolonged lockdown, especially with regard to migrant workers and micro small
medium enterprises (MSME).

A lot of us have been saying that we need a stimulus package. That’s what the U.S. is doing, Japan is
doing, Europe is doing. We really haven’t decided on a large enough stimulus package. We are still
talking about 1% of GDP. The U.S. has gone for 10% of GDP,” Prof. Banerjee said.

“Giving money in the hands of everybody, so that they can buy in stores or they buy consumer goods ... I
think spending is the easiest way to revive the economy. Because then the MSME people get money,
they spend it and then it has the usual Keynesian chain reaction,” he said.
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/india-needs-a-big-stimulus-package-abhijit-
banerjee/article31514038.ece

Lockdown violation cases won’t be quashed #GS2 #Governance

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by a former Director-General of Police of Uttar
Pradesh to quash FIRs registered against ordinary citizens for violating the COVID-19 lockdown.

“There cannot be a super government. Everyone is going through difficult times,” a Bench led by Justice
Ashok Bhushan remarked orally while rejecting the plea.

Vikram Singh, the former DGP of Uttar Pradesh, had cited data collected by a think-tank Centre for
Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) — of which he is the chairman — to show that 848 FIRs
were filed between March 23 and April 13 under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience of an order
promulgated by a public servant) in 50 police stations in Delhi alone.

The petition cited the Uttar Pradesh government website to say that 15,378 FIRs were registered in
Uttar Pradesh against 48,503 persons under Section 188 IPC. Mr. Singh had argued that there were
several judgments of the Supreme Court itself that FIRs cannot be registered under Section 188 IPC.

“Police action on an individual who is perhaps suffering from distress and lack of information as a result
of the circumstances has ramifications which can extend beyond the coronavirus lockdown, and cannot
be good for a constitutional democracy,” the petition had said.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/lockdown-violation-cases-wont-be-
quashed/article31513955.ece

M.P. caught between pandemic and penury #GS2 #Governance

The stringent lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 outbreak has had a crippling impact on the
economy of Madhya Pradesh, where tax collection — SGST and IGST put together — dropped by close
to 85% in April.

“We collected around Rs. 250 crore, which is about 15% of the amount collected for the month last year.
It is much lower than the target,” said Additional Chief Secretary, State Finance Department Anurag Jain.

Mining activity remains suspended across the State. Liquor shops will remain shuttered in the three red
zone districts of Bhopal, Indore and Ujjain, but be partially open in the remaining six, during the
continuing lockdown. There will be no curbs on liquor sales in the other 43 districts.

Falling fuel VAT

“In mining and excise, there is [now] hardly any revenue. The VAT on petrol and diesel has also come
down to 60-65%,” said Mr. Jain.
As regards GST arrears, the Centre has settled only part of the pendency for December and January. The
compensation loss for February and March of about Rs. 2,100 crore, and the remaining dues are still
outstanding.

Staring at an imminent financial crunch, the State advanced its borrowings for April and May. The
government borrowed Rs. 1,000 crore each on April 3 and April 10, while preparing to meet demands at
least until April 14, when the lockdown was initially supposed to be lifted. Now, it plans to borrow
another Rs. 1,000 crore in May.

The advance borrowing is vital given that the open market borrowing limit is considerably lower than
the State’s urgent needs.

Further, the priority is on only essential expenditure at present, relating to managing the COVID-19
pandemic, sustaining the lives of the poor, employment generation, and capital expenditure.

Under different schemes, the government has infused an additional Rs. 1,000 crore in the Health
department to help it deal with the outbreak. Other departments will have to stick to the expenditure
limit set for them. “Until now, we have not allowed the capital expenditure to suffer. But a situation may
arise that some cuts may have to be made,” said Mr. Jain.

Returning to power in March after a dramatic, month-long, political tussle, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan faced the twin challenge of making up for time lost by ramping up containment efforts and
shoring up a floundering economy, as the growth rate countrywide continued a downward trend.
He requested the Centre for additional borrowing for the year. “At a time like this when the demand is
low, the government should make increased meaningful expenditure, which has a bigger multiplier
effect, to revive the economy,” said Mr. Jain.

Relief from RBI

Necessary relief has come from the Reserve Bank of India, which has hiked the Ways and Means
Advances limit of Rs. 1,600 crore by 60%. To sustain up to June, Madhya Pradesh has planned to harness
the raised Rs. 2,560 crore limit.

The new regime, where 24 Assembly constituencies will hold byelectiona in four months, has begun
doling out sops and freebies.

Social security schemes

Mr. Chouhan relaunched social security schemes for unorganised workers the Sambal Yojana, a pet
scheme of his previous tenure that was scrapped by the Congress regime. On May 5, he transferred Rs.
41 crore for the scheme which credits money via DBT.

In addition, Madhya Pradesh recently paid its share of the premium for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
Yojana for the past two cropping seasons. Blaming the previous Congress regime for the pendency, Mr.
Chouhan paid Rs. 2,200 crore. However, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath pointed out that the dues for
kharif 2019 and rabi 2018-2019, had not been paid by Mr. Chouhan when he took over in 2018. The
State still needs to pay its share for most recent season.

The Finance Department believes the actual payout will be much more, as the consequent claim
received by farmers will help pump a multiplied sum of cash into the economy.

On May 4, Food Minister Govind Singh Rajput announced that in just 16 days, the government had
procured a record 50% more wheat than last year. This entailed a purchase worth Rs. 3,171.26 crore, of
which around Rs. 2,420 crore has already been paid to the farmers. Although the Centre bears the chunk
of the payment, even the meagre 5-7% contribution from the State is likely to further strain its finances.

In a bid to revive industries, Mr Nath has advised Mr. Chouhan to ensure that half the SGST collected is
refunded as tax subsidy every other month. At least until March 31, he has suggested, the refund must
be given to businesses and industries.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/mp-caught-between-pandemic-and-
penury/article31513960.ece

Centre sets rules for bringing back Indians #GS2 #IR

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday issued guidelines to enable persons, including
foreigners who have been stranded in India due to the ongoing lockdown, to return from abroad or fly
overseas from the country.
Those coming from abroad would have to submit the result of the RT-PCR test to the Indian missions
where they have registered and also give an undertaking that they would be willing to undergo
institutional quarantine for a minimum period of 14 days, at their own cost, on arrival.

Setting out the Standard Operating Protocol, the MHA said those who want to return would have to
register with the Indian missions and give an undertaking that they were making the journey at their
own risk.

“Based on the registrations received, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will prepare flight/ship wise
database of all such travelers, including name, age, gender, mobile phone number, place of residence,
final destination and information on RT-PCR test taken and its result,” the MHA said. “This database will
be shared by the MEA with the respective State in advance,” it added.

Thermal screening of passengers would be done on arrival and “all passengers shall be asked to
download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices”. The same protocol would be followed for
passengers crossing over from land borders.

Symptomatic passengers would be immediately taken to a medical facility and the remaining persons to
institutional quarantine to be arranged by the State government. “If they test negative after 14 days,
they will be allowed to go home and undertake self monitoring of their health for 14 more days as per
protocol,” said the MHA.

Only those crew and staff who had tested negative for COVID-19 would be allowed to operate the non-
scheduled commercial flights and naval ships to bring back those stranded.

Passengers to pay fare

The cost of travel would have to be borne by the travellers and the MEA would post the details of the
flight schedule on the concerned platform at least two days in advance, the MHA said.

The Ministry also issued the SOP for “movement of persons stranded in India who are desirous to travel
abroad.”

These passengers would be accommodated on the flights being arranged by the Ministry of Civil
Aviation to bring back Indians stranded abroad, from May 7 onward.

Air India would operate 64 flights between May 7-13, mainly to the Gulf and Southeast Asian countries.

The MHA said that only those persons would be allowed to travel to the destination countries who were
“citizens of that country, green card or OCI card holder” or in the case of a medical emergency or a
death in the family, Indians holding six-month visas could also be allowed.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/centre-sets-rules-for-bringing-back-
indians/article31513993.ece
Ships on way to the Maldives, UAE #GS2 #IR
The Navy dispatched two ships, INS Jalashwa and INS Magar , to Male under Operation “Samudra Setu”
to repatriate stranded Indian citizens.

The evacuation operations will start on May 8 as part of Phase 1 efforts, the Navy said on Tuesday.

Defence sources confirmed that INS Shardul and INS Airavat had set sail to the UAE. Modalities at the
port of entry were being finalised and should be in place before the ships reach, a defence source said.

“A total of 1,000 persons are planned to be evacuated during the first trip, catering for COVID-related
social distancing norms vis-a-vis the carrying capacity and medical facilities available on board,” the
Navy said.

The evacuated personnel will disembark in Kochi and entrusted to the care of the State authorities, the
Navy said. INS Jalashwa is set to reach Male on May 8 and INS Magar on May 10. INS Jalashwa can
normally accommodate 1,000 people but will take 800.

The other three amphibious ships are landing ship tanks (LST) and can normally accommodate 500
people each but the capacity will be reduced to 300-350, officials said. The Navy said the ships had
been suitably provisioned for the evacuation and those evacuated would be provided basic amenities
and medical facilities during the sea passage.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ships-on-way-to-the-maldives-
uae/article31513989.ece

‘Copycat’ groups come to the fore #GS3 #Security

Even as the Delhi police cracked down on the ‘Bois Locker Room’, an Instagram page where teenage
boys were allegedly discussing gangrape of minor girls, cyber experts have observed scores of
‘copycat’ groups with similar names or themes that were formed within hours of the matter becoming
public knowledge.

Cyber experts said the copycat groups were trying to capitalise on the dubious fame and gain
followers. Mumbai-based expert Shubam Singh told The Hindu that from Monday night to Tuesday
morning, he had confirmed the details of eight members of the Instagram group and shared them with
the Delhi police.

“Even as I was working on this, I saw several such pages, some of them newly formed, on Instagram. The
pages were created with the obvious intent to cash in on the attention and gain followers. As news of
the incident spread, those who did not know about it started searching online and in the process came
across these pages and started following them,” Mr. Singh said.

Rumour-mongering
He added that another fallout of the matter was the rumour-mongering that started either to take
focus away from the core issue or to malign others in a similar way with fabricated evidence.
Supposed screenshots of chats from a Delhi-based group where members ostensibly admitted to having
taken advantage of a girl started doing the rounds on Twitter on Monday evening, but could not be
verified.

“There were also reports of one of the members of the Bois Locker Room committing suicide on
Monday night, which I later confirmed to be false,” Mr. Singh said, who has received calls from several
people to discuss cyber crime.

Ritesh Bhatia, another expert, has also been besieged with calls from people seeking to report similar
pages.

“The major problem is that there are no clear laws for many of the instances that are coming to light.
For example, there are so many instances of body shaming but no laws that deal with cyber bullying. If
people have no fear of the law, such incidents will continue,” Mr. Bhatia said.

He referred to a similar case that had come to light in a Mumbai-based school last year, where there
was ultimately no police case, nor were there any steps taken by other schools to spread awareness. He
added that responsibility also lay with parents, who need to make children aware that such behaviour
can attract serious consequences.

“Today, instances of people breaking traffic laws are decreasing not because they have suddenly
developed respect for the law but because there are speed cameras, e-challans and increased fines. It
works the same way with cyber crime,” Mr. Bhatia said.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/copycat-groups-come-to-the-
fore/article31513998.ece

Pfizer, BioNTech begin virus vaccine trial #GS3 #SnT

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Tuesday they have begun delivering doses of their experimental
coronavirus vaccines for initial human testing in the U.S.

The U.S. drugmaker and German partner said if the vaccine proves to be safe and effective in trials, it
could potentially be ready for wide U.S. distribution by the end of the year, shaving several years off
the typical vaccine development timeline.

The vaccine, which uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, has the potential to be among the first
vaccines against the virus that has infected more than 1 million people in the U.S. and killed some
68,000.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for the new coronavirus, though some drugs are
being used on patients under an emergency use authorisation.
The U.S. study is part of a broader, global programme already underway in Germany, where BioNTech is
based. Dosing there began last month.

Moderna Inc is using similar technology for its vaccine being developed along with the U.S. government.
Phase I testing of that vaccine candidate has also begun, with mid-stage trials planned in the current
quarter.

Pfizer said last week it hopes to receive emergency authorisation from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration as early as October, and could distribute up to 20 million doses by the end of 2020,
with an eye toward producing hundreds of millions of doses next year.

“Even going from a few million to 20 million will allow you to protect the epicentres of the virus, and
then drive out the virus from our society as we ramp up to hundreds of millions,” Pfizer research chief
Mikael Dolsten told Reuters in an interview.

Using synthetic mRNA technology can enable the vaccine to be developed and manufactured more
quickly than traditional vaccines, the companies said. Pfizer said last week it expects to make safety data
on the vaccine available by late May.

The trial will initially aim to test different dosing regimens of four potential vaccine candidates on
around 360 healthy volunteers divided into a younger cohort and a group of seniors.

The trial will expand to more subjects after researchers determine which compounds and dosing
regimens are most effective, said Kirsten Lyke, a director at the University of Maryland's Center for
Vaccine Development and Global Health, which is participating in the trial.

Doses have already been administered to some volunteers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the
University of Maryland School of Medicine. Pfizer plans to expand the trial to sites across the U.S. in
early July, and may ultimately enroll more than 8,000 participants, a company spokeswoman said.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pfizer-biontech-begin-virus-vaccine-
trial/article31512251.ece

China launches new rocket, spacecraft #GS2 #IR #GS3 #SnT

China on Tuesday successfully launched a new rocket and prototype spacecraft, state media said, in a
major test of the country’s ambitions to operate a permanent space station and send astronauts to the
Moon.

‘The Long March 5B’ rocket took off from the Wenchang launch site in the southern island of Hainan and
eight minutes later an unmanned prototype spaceship successfully separated and entered its planned
orbit, according to the Xinhua news agency. A test version of a cargo return capsule also separated from
the rocket, Xinhua added.
The spaceship will one day transport astronauts to a space station that China plans to complete by 2022
— and eventually to the Moon. It will have capacity for a crew of six.

Return on Friday

The spaceship and capsule are slated to return to a landing site by Friday after completing their test
flights, Ji Qiming of the China Manned Space Agency told a press conference. Leader of the command
headquarters for the flight mission Zhang Xueyu said the launch had “strengthened confidence and
determination” for the next stages of China’s space programme.

The United States is so far the only country to have successfully sent humans to the Moon. But Beijing
has made huge strides in its effort to catch up, sending astronauts into space, satellites into orbit and a
rover to the far side of the Moon.

The successful maiden flight of the 54-metre Long March 5B — which has a take-off mass of about 849
tonnes — should reassure China, following failures of the 7A model in March and 3B model in April. “The
new spaceship will give China an advantage in the area of human spaceflight over Japan and Europe,”
said Chen Lan, an independent analyst at GoTaikonauts.com. Assembly of the Tiangong space station is
expected to begin this year and finish in 2022.

China plans to send an astronaut to the Moon in about a decade and then build a base there.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/china-launches-new-rocket-
spacecraft/article31513943.ece

Amid high inflation, Iran to get a new currency #GS2 #IR

For many years, Iran’s government debated changing the national currency, the rial, by basically slashing
four zeros off its face value — an acknowledgement of how American sanctions and economic
mismanagement have contributed to inflation in the country.

On Monday, the Iranian Parliament essentially took that step, authorising the replacement of the rial
with another basic unit of currency called the toman. Each toman will be worth 10,000 rials under the
new system.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which turned Iran into a regional epicentre of the disease, appears to have
played a decisive role, contributing to a further devaluation of the rial since February.

Since 2018, when the Trump administration repudiated the nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions
on Iran, the value of Iran’s currency has fallen by roughly 60%. “Eliminating the four zeros is a necessary
action to simplify financial transactions,” an Iran government spokesman, Ali Rabiei, said in a Twitter
posting.
The Guardian Council, a body of conservative clerics that supervises Parliament, is expected to ratify
the law, and then the Central Bank will have two years to implement the change — removing rials
from circulation and issuing tomans instead.

The change is the outcome of a draft Bill presented in early 2019 by the Governor of Iran’s central bank,
Abdolnasser Hemati. He noted that the currency has been devalued 3,500 times since 1971 and that
Iran had no choice but to “save the face” of its national currency, according to Iranian official media
reports.

Earlier attempts by President Hassan Rouhani’s government to change the currency as far back as 2016
had remained in limbo.

Two views

Supporters of the change said slashing the extra zeros would vastly simplify financial calculations in Iran
by eliminating the need for Iranian shoppers to carry loads of rials to make purchases, which they must
do now because of inflation. On Monday, the rial’s exchange rate was 1,56,000 to the dollar.

But opponents argued that the plan was an added expense at a time when the government was already
facing a budget deficit of between 30-50% for this coming fiscal year. The effect of the currency change,
the critics said, amounted to just cosmetic window dressing.

Fereydoun Khavand, an Iranian economist in Paris, said governments typically arrived at changing the
national currency as the last stage of an economic overhaul like European countries had done after the
Second World War or Turkey in recent years. Iran has done the opposite, Mr. Khavand said, partly
because of the crippling effect of U.S. sanctions, which have severely limited the country’s ability to sell
oil or to conduct international financial transactions.

Under those circumstances, he said other basic economic changes the Iranian government may want to
undertake are difficult. “You typically fix the economy first and then change the currency,” said Mr.
Khavand. “The government is in a financial bind with no prospect of financial aid coming from outside or
from inside so they are trying this,” he added.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/amid-high-inflation-iran-to-get-a-new-
currency/article31513945.ece

BHEL invites foreign firms to use idle units #GS3 #Economy

State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has called for Expression of Interest (EOI) from
foreign companies who wish to use its factories currently lying idle, for manufacturing from India.

The economic disruption across the world due to COVID-19 has highlighted the dangers of
manufacturing activities being concentrated in a single location and the need for diversification of
supply chains and manufacturing. BHEL’s move, which comes at a time when many global companies are
looking to exit China, may help them to invest in India - one of the fastest growing economies, said
analysts.

“In order to further promote ‘Make in India’ and support international companies for setting up
manufacturing in India, BHEL has floated an Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting global companies to
partner with it and leverage its facilities and capabilities for setting up a manufacturing base in the
country,” BHEL said in a statement.

“The partnership can shorten the time to set up manufacturing facility for the incoming partner, while
also helping BHEL utilise its idle factories and employees. With power sector demand still struggling, this
is a significant diversification move. India has so far lagged in grabbing a share of the global supply chain
shift from China to other emerging markets. One of the key reasons for this underperformance is a lack
of readymade land bank, delay in approvals and fear of dealing with Indian bureaucracy,” Amar Kedia of
Emkay Global said.

BHEL, a Maharatna CPSE under the Department of Heavy Industries, has 16 state-of-the-art
manufacturing facilities spread across the country with substantial land bank as well as extensive built
up industrial, commercial and residential spaces. BHEL’s manpower strength of about 34,000 includes
9,000 engineers with qualifications and experience in cutting edge technologies.

BHEL also has ongoing technology partnerships with some of the major global manufacturing and
engineering companies as well as relationships with leading national laboratories and institutions.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/bhel-invites-foreign-firms-to-use-idle-
units/article31513907.ece

Ashok Leyland develops low-cost ventilator #GS3 #SnT

Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL), the flagship company of the Hinduja Group, has developed a low-cost
ventilator which it would start manufacturing by early June 2020.

“We have developed a first-mile ventilator. Usually, it is called a respirator. We have mechanised it
and converted it into a ventilator using sensors and controls. We will start producing it by early June,”
said a senior ALL official on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, ALL reported nil sales during April
2020 due to closure of plants across India to combat COVID-19.

ALL had sold 13,626 units (domestic sales and exports) during the year-ago period in the medium and
heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs) segment comprising trucks, buses and light commercial vehicles
(LCVs). Of this, exports alone during April 2019 stood at 485 units.

“For the first time ever in the history of the automotive industry in India, we have seen a ‘zero sale’
month in April 2020,” saidVipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/ashok-leyland-develops-low-cost-
ventilator/article31513919.ece
Why Tamil Nadu is latest cause for worry #GS3 #SnT
For the last few days, Tamil Nadu has been adding to its Coronavirus numbers at a very fast pace, its
number has nearly doubled in the last one week, from 2058 to 4058. The state reported over 500 new
cases on each of the last two days and was the single biggest contributor to the national numbers
after Maharashtra.

Unlike some other states like Punjab or West Bengal, where the sudden surge in the numbers in recent
days could be attributed to specific reasons, it is not clear what is causing the rise in numbers in Tamil
Nadu. After all, the number of new cases were increasing at a much more modest rate in Tamil Nadu
earlier. Its previous doubling had taken 17 days.

State Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths

Maharashtra 15525 984 617

Gujarat 6245 441 368

Delhi 5104 206 64

Tamil Nadu 4058 508 33

Rajasthan 3095 97 89

Madhya Pradesh 3049 107 176

Uttar Pradesh 2880 114 56

Andhra Pradesh 1717 67 34

Punjab 1451 219 25

West Bengal 1344 85 140

On Tuesday, India added 2949 new cases of novel Coronavirus cases, and was now within touching
distance of reaching 50,000 confirmed infections. At close on Tuesday, this number stood at 49339, out
of which at least 12750 had already recovered from the disease.

Just in the first five days of this month, India has discovered more than 15,000 cases, which is
threatening to reverse gains made in limiting the spread of the disease in April. And this surge has
nothing to do with the relaxation in lockdown restrictions that have been given since May 4. The trend
originates before the relaxations came into effect, and in any case the impact of the relaxation would
become evident only after a lag of about a week or ten days. The current surge that we are seeing is
spontaneous, and an indicator of the fact that the second half of the earlier lockdown phase was not as
effective in restricting the spread of the disease as the first half was.

On Tuesday, Gujarat crossed the 6000-figure mark, while Delhi reached 5000 and Madhya
Pradesh 3000. Incidentally, Gujarat reported 49 deaths on Tuesday, the most that any state has done on
any single day till now. Thirty nine of those deaths happened in Ahmedabad, which too is the highest
single-day number for any city. On its worst day, Maharashtra had reported 37 deaths, while Mumbai
had 27 on one day.

With the death numbers crossing 350 in Gujarat, the state restricted the information it was giving out
about its dead till now in the daily bulletins. Age, and pre-existing illness details that the state had been
including in its bulletins — in fact, Gujarat was only one of three states to be doing so — have been
stopped.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/coronavirus-tamil-nadu-maharashtra-india-lockdown-
6396164/

How Covid has flattened prices, shifted demand curve for agri-commodities
#GS3 #Economy
While there is debate on how much the lockdown has helped in “flattening the Covid-19 curve”, one
thing is clear: It has led to a flattening of prices through a “leftward shift in the demand curve”.

The best way to illustrate this is through two agricultural commodities — potato and milk — that were
experiencing significant production shortfalls. In ordinary circumstances, it would have resulted in prices
shooting up at this time. Instead, they have remained flat or even collapsed, thanks to the demand
destruction from lockdown.

Fewer takers for potato

Take potatoes, of which cold stores across India have stocked only an estimated 36 crore bags (of 50 kg
each) from the main rabi (winter-spring) crop harvested in February-March. This was as against 48 crore
in 2019, 46 crore in 2018 and the record 57 crore bags of the 2017 post-demonetisation crop.

“Production this time has been much lower, which should have translated into far better prices than
last year. But the lockdown has upset our calculations,” said Karamveer Jurel from Khandauli village in
Etmadpur tehsil of Uttar Pradesh’s Agra district. This farmer has harvested 28,000 bags from 120 acres,
20 of his own and the balance leased land. Like many growers, he has deposited the bulk of his produce
in cold stores for making staggered sales from April to December.
Till early-April, when the lockdown’s impact was still to kick in, mota aloo or regular large potato was
selling from Agra’s cold storage units at around Rs 21 per kg. But it is now fetching Rs 18 and Jurel
expects rates to drop by another Rs 4-5/kg towards mid-June. “Nikasi (offtake) is down. Hardly 500
trucks (each carrying 400-odd bags) are being loaded daily from Agra zone (which includes Aligarh,
Mathura, Hathras, Etah, Firozabad and Etawah districts), compared to the normal 800,” Jurel noted.

When demand curve shifts leftwards.

The reason is simple: With hotels, restaurants and street food joints shuts and no weddings or other
public functions taking place, consumption of potato-based snacks — from aloo chaat, tikki, samosa, pav
bhaji and masala dosa to French fries — has taken a beating. Lower demand has, hence, caused prices to
fall.

The above price decline, though, isn’t the usual one that economists term “movement along the
demand curve”. Such movement involves a reduction/increase in quantity demanded only on account of
an increase/decrease in price, and vice versa.

What is being seen now, however, is the demand curve itself “shifting”. That, in turn, is due to the
collapse of institutional or business demand for potatoes. When aloo is being consumed only in home
kitchens, there is less overall demand than before even at the same price.

Thus, in the chart, 100 tonnes was being demanded at Rs 20 pre-lockdown. But with the original
demand curve shifting from D to D1, only 75 tonnes (these are purely illustrative numbers) would be
bought at the same price. The quantity demanded has been affected by something other than price — in
this case, the shutdown of businesses.

The worries, now and later

The ultimate sufferers are farmers. Agra zone’s cold stores alone have stocked about 8.7 crore bags of
the current rabi crop, lower than last year’s 10.5 crore and the all-time-high 13 crore bags of 2017. “The
last three years were bad, when we could barely recover our production cost of roughly Rs 12 per kg,
which includes Rs 115/bag (Rs 2.3/kg) cold store expenses.
When prices touched Rs 25/kg in end-December, we thought 2020 will be the year to recoup past losses.
The lockdown’s impact will be deergh kaleen (long-term), just like notebandi (demonetisation). Then, it
was cash. Now, it is incomes that will take time to recover,” Jurel predicted.

According to Mohammad Alamgir, general secretary of Agra’s Potato Growers Association, the situation
may worsen with kharif potato plantings during May-August in Karnataka (mainly Hassan, Chikmagalur,
Belgaum and Chikkaballapur) and Maharashtra (Pune, Satara and Nashik). “They should be discouraged
from cultivating aloo, as it will benefit neither them nor us. Once their crop (of 65-70 days, unlike the
110-120 days varieties grown in UP) arrives in the market, prices will hit rock-bottom,” he said.

The Agra zone, along with MP (Indore, Ujjain and Shajapur districts) and Gujarat (Banaskantha and
Sabarkantha), meets much of the potato demand in Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and South India. UP’s
Kanpur zone (especially Kannauj, Farrukhabad and Barabanki), West Bengal and Bihar feed the entire
East and Northeast India markets.

“Something should be done about demand. Why can’t the government allow APMC (agricultural
produce market committee) mandis to open 24 hours? Would that not enable social distancing and
make buyers more confident about going to the markets, which are currently overcrowded and open for
only a few hours?” said Jurel.

Shift with milk, too

The leftward shift in the demand curve is even more obvious vis-à-vis milk. 2019-20 saw India’s milk
production, perhaps, fall for the first time in decades. Till mid-March, there was talk of the country
actually having to import up to one lakh tonnes of skimmed milk powder (SMP). Before the lockdown,
dairies were selling SMP at Rs 300-310 per kg and cow butter at Rs 320 per kg.

Those prices have not just flattened, but crashed to Rs 170 and Rs 230/kg levels. Many dairies have
further slashed procurement prices. Only two months ago, farmers in UP were getting Rs 43-44 per kg
for buffalo milk containing 6.5% fat and 9% solids-not-fat, which has since come down to Rs 32-33 per
kg.

That, again, is the fallout of no institutional demand, whether from tea stalls and ice-cream makers or
suppliers of khoa/chenna to sweetmeat sellers. In other words, it is a “shift” and not mere “movement”
along the same demand curve.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-covid-has-flattened-prices-shifted-demand-curve-for-
agri-commodities-6395733/

Why are MSMEs worst hit? #GS3 #Economy

The Covid-19 pandemic has left its impact on all sectors of the economy but nowhere is the hurt as
much as the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) of India. All anecdotal evidence available,
such as the hundreds of thousands of stranded migrant workers across the country, suggests that
MSMEs have been the worst casualty of Covid-19 induced lockdown. It has also been reported that just
like the first relief package, called the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, which was announced by the
government on March 26, the second package, too, would primarily focus on the MSME sector.

A closer look at the anatomy of the MSME sector explains why MSMEs are so vulnerable to economic
stress.

How are MSMEs defined?

Formally, MSMEs are defined in terms of investment in plant and machinery (Chart 1). But this criterion
for the definition was long criticised because credible and precise details of investments were not easily
available by authorities.

That is why in February 2018, the Union Cabinet decided to change the criterion to “annual turnover”,
which was more in line with the imposition of GST. According to the proposed definition, which is yet to
be formally accepted, a micro enterprise will be one with an annual turnover less than Rs 5 crore; a
small enterprise with turnover between Rs 5 crore and Rs 75 crore; and a medium enterprise with
turnover less than Rs 250 crore.
How many MSMEs does India have, who owns them, and where are they situated?

According to the latest available (2018-19) Annual Report of Department of MSMEs, there are 6.34 crore
MSMEs in the country (Chart 2). Around 51 per cent of these are situated in rural India. Together, they
employ a little over 11 crore people (Chart 3) but 55 per cent of the employment happens in the urban
MSMEs.

These numbers suggest that, on average, less than two people are employed per MSME. At one level
that gives a picture of how small these really are. But a breakup of all MSMEs into micro, small and
medium categories is even more revealing.

As Chart 4 shows, 99.5 per cent of all MSMEs fall in the micro category. While micro enterprises are
equally distributed over rural and urban India, small and medium ones are predominantly in urban India.
In other words, micro enterprises essentially refer to a single man or a woman working on their own
from their home.
The medium and small enterprises — that is, the remaining 0.5% of all MSMEs — employ the remaining
5 crore-odd employees.

The distribution of enterprise by caste further completes the picture. About 66 per cent of all MSMEs
are owned by people belonging to the Scheduled Castes (12.5%), the Scheduled Tribes (4.1%) and Other
Backward Classes (49.7%). The gender ratio among employees is largely consistent across the board at
roughly 80% male and 20% female.

In terms of geographical distribution, seven Indian states alone account for 50 per cent of all MSMEs.
These are Uttar Pradesh (14%), West Bengal (14%), Tamil Nadu (8%), Maharashtra (8%), Karnataka (6%),
Bihar (5%) and Andhra Pradesh (5%).

This breakup provides a sense of where the pain of the MSME crisis would be felt the most.

What kind of problems do MSMEs in India face?

Given the shape and form of MSMEs, it is not hard to envisage the kind of problems they would face.

To begin with, most of them are not registered anywhere. A big reason for this is that they are just too
small. Even GST has its threshold and most micro enterprises do not qualify. This apparent invisibility
tends to work for enterprises as well as against them. Being out of the formal network, they do not have
to maintain accounts, pay taxes or adhere to regulatory norms etc.

This brings down their costs. But, as it is clear in a time of crisis, it also constrains a government’s ability
to help them. For instance, in some of developed countries, the government has tried to directly provide
wage subsidy and extra credit to smaller firms but that could happen because even smaller firms were
being mapped.

Related to this is possibly the single-biggest hurdle facing the MSMEs – lack of financing. According to a
2018 report by the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank), the formal banking
system supplies less than one-third (or about Rs 11 lakh crore) of the credit MSME credit need that it
can potentially fund (Chart 5).

In other words, most of the MSME funding comes from informal sources and this fact is crucial because
it explains why the Reserve Bank of India’s efforts to push more liquidity towards the MSMEs have had a
limited impact.

A key reason why banks dither from extending loans to MSMEs is the high ratio of bad loans (Chart 6);
data show higher slippage for relatively bigger enterprises.

The other big issue plaguing the sector is the delays in payments to MSMEs — be it from their buyers
(which includes the government also) or things like GST refunds etc.

How has Covid-19 made things worse?

Suvodeep Rakshit of Kotak Institutional Equities said that MSMEs were already struggling — in terms of
declining revenues and capacity utilisation — in the lead-up to the Covid-19 crisis. The total lockdown
has raised a question mark on the existence of many primarily because these are not firms that have too
much cash to wait out the crisis.

That explains the job losses, he said. According to a recent survey he did for “small and medium” firms in
manufacturing, only 7% said they will be able to survive for more than three months with their cash in
hand if their business remains closed. A big hurdle to restarting now is the lack of labour availability.

What can be done?

The RBI has been trying to pump money into the MSME sector but given the structural constraints, it has
had limited impact. Hetal Gandhi, Director, CRISIL, believes that there are no easy answers. The
government can provide tax relief (GST and corporate tax), give swifter refunds, and provide liquidity to
rural India (say, through PM-Kisan) to boost demand for MSME products, she said.

What about credit guarantees?

Loans to MSMEs are mostly given against property (as collateral) — because often there isn’t a robust
cash flow analysis available — but in times of crisis, property values fall and that inhibits the extension
of new loans. A credit guarantee by the government helps as it assures the bank that its loan will be
repaid by the government in case the MSME falters. To the extent such defaults happen, credit
guarantees are shown as a departmental expense in the Budget.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/coronavirus-india-lockdown-msme-sector-crisis-
government-relief-package-6395731/

Co-operative banks can use Sarfaesi Act to recover dues: Supreme Court #GS3
#Economy
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ruled that all co-operative banks
in the country could make use of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and
Enforcement of Security Interest Act (Sarfaesi) to make recovery against defaulting persons.

“We find that the SARFAESI Act qualifies the test of legislative competence, as well as the definition,
cannot be said to be colourable piece or over inclusive or beyond the competence of the Parliament,”
the five-judge Bench, led by Justice Arun Mishra said.

In 2013, the Gujarat High Court had, while hearing a challenge to the amendment of Banking Regulation
Act of 1949, to include cooperative societies as financial institutions, ruled it null and void.

The high court had then agreed with the submissions of the petitioners who had argued that Sarfaesi
would not be applicable to cooperative banks formed under the state law, as they were bound by the
Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961 and could recover money only via that route.
The Delhi High Court had, on the other hand, ruled that the cooperative banks and societies were for all
purposes banks and financial institutions and thus were allowed to use Sarfaesi to make recoveries
against defaulters.

In its judgment on Tuesday, the apex court held that all such cooperative banks involved in the activities
related to banking are covered within the meaning of ‘banking company’.

“The cooperative banks cannot carry on any activity without compliance of the provisions of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949 and any other legislation applicable to such banks relatable to banking,” the five-
judge bench said.

While there have been calls to notify non-scheduled urban cooperative banks as ‘financial institutions’
so they could make use of IBC to recover monies, the government had clarified any institution which
was owed money by any corporate could approach the NCLT either as a financial or an operational
creditor.

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/co-operative-banks-can-use-sarfaesi-act-to-recover-dues-
supreme-court-6395674/

Govt panel suggests setting up apex land management body #GS3 #Economy
A government panel on boosting infrastructure investment has recommended setting up a National
Land Management Corporation, which would help in monetising state-owned surplus land assets in a
systematic and specialised way.

Such a corporation should be set up under Companies Act to function as the facilitator for land
monetisation and an asset manager for lands owned by government of India and Central Public Sector
Enterprises. It has recommended that a chief executive officer (CEO) and a technical team be hired at
market-linked compensation to carry out land monetisation.

The Corporation can raise capital from the equity market, based on the value of its leased assets, just
like it has been done recently by some private-owned Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS), which were
listed on the stock exchanges last year.

The task force noted there is a need for a separate organisation, which can work with various
government departments including Railways and Defence Ministry to utilise their surplus land assets.
After setting up the proposed Corporation, which will identify and manage surplus land assets,
concessioning of the land should be done through this special purpose vehicle that would provide land
on lease basis or other revenue sharing modes (including sale of land) for commercial purpose.

The panel recommended the Corporation consider development or co-development of land belonging
to defence or railways as well. It can also take up co-development of private land parcels adjoining
government lands to maximise revenue.

Will help in raising funds from market

The government has been trying to monetise surplus land assets with departments and state-owned
companies for the last couple of years. Despite large tracts of commercial viable land being available,
there has been limited progress on this front.

The National Land Management Corporation, with a professional team from the market, is being
proposed to speed up progress in this area. A pipeline of income-yielding properties can be created by
such a corporation, which can, in turn, raise funds from the market.

Apart from a CEO and technical team, it has been proposed that the Corporation have representation
from senior officials of the Finance Ministry, Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs as well as independent directors from finance and real estate industry.

Besides maintaining an inventory of public land, the Corporation will develop model concession
agreements for land development and sale, legal management of litigation/encumbrances relating to
land, development planning, design and bid process management. Operational requirements like
change of land usage and revenue management functions will also entrusted with the Corporation.

Along with monetisation of land assets, the task force on National Infrastructure Pipeline , in its report
submitted to the government last week, also suggested measures including strengthening of the
municipal bond market, deepening of corporate bond markets, and setting up Development Financial
Institutions for infrastructure sector.

The task force pegged the total expected capital expenditure for infra sector at Rs 111 lakh crore in the
next five years.

Having income earning inventory of assets would enable the Corporation to raise equity capital or debt
from the markets. These funds can be deployed for development of surplus land assets, creating a
pipeline of developable assets.

The Corporation may adopt different models for land monetisation, including securitising a pool of
assets through structures like REITs and InvITs. Successful bidders in projects could either make large
upfront payment for the assets combined with annual payments, or small or zero upfront payment with
annual payments.

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/govt-panel-suggests-setting-up-apex-land-management-
body-6395667/

Unemployment rate soars to 27.11% amid COVID-19 pandemic: CMIE #GS3

#Economy

Amid suspended economic activity to counter the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s
unemployment rate surged to 27.11 per cent for the week ended May 3 from the level of 6.74 per cent
in the week ended March 15, the data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed.
Unemployment rate had moderated to 21.05 per cent in the previous week (which ended April 26) from
26.19 per cent in the week before.

The Mumbai-based think tank said the rate of unemployment was the highest in the urban areas, which
include the majority of the red zones due to the COVID-19 cases, at 29.22 per cent, as against 26.16 per
cent for the rural areas. In the previous week ended April 26, the urban unemployment rate had stood
at 21.45 per cent and the rural unemployment rate at 20.88 per cent.

As per CMIE’s data, the monthly unemployment rate in April stood at 23.52 per cent, up from March’s
8.74 per cent.

CMIE’s weekly series of data pointed to a steady increase in unemployment since the start of the COVID-
19 pandemic in India, with the week to March 29 showing the sharpest spike to 23.81 per cent.

With the imposition of nationwide lockdown on March 24, economic activity has taken a hit, with most
analysts and economists now predicting a possible contraction of the country’s GDP for this financial
year. Employment in MSMEs and unorganised sector is expected to be hit sharply.

State-wise data shows that as of April-end, Puducherry had the highest number of unemployment at
75.8 per cent, followed by neighbouring Tamil Nadu 49.8 per cent, Jharkhand 47.1 per cent and Bihar
46.6 per cent. Maharashtra’s unemployment rate was recorded at 20.9 per cent, while the same for
Haryana stood at 43.2 per cent, Uttar Pradesh at 21.5 per cent and Karnataka at 29.8 per cent, CMIE
data showed.

Hilly states had the lowest incidence of unemployment as of April-end, with the unemployment rate in
Himachal Pradesh at 2.2 per cent, Sikkim at 2.3 per cent and Uttarakhand at 6.5 per cent, the data
showed.

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/unemployment-rate-soars-to-27-11-amid-covid-19-
pandemic-cmie-6395714/

Admissions under critical care see sharp fall under Ayushman Bharat #GS3
#Economy
The Covid pandemic and the lockdown that entered its 42nd day on Tuesday have adversely affected
people’s access to medical care across the country, hindering even the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’s (AB-PMJAY) ability to cater to critical patients below the poverty line.

According to data provided by the National Health Authority (NHA), the number of treatments for 825
types of unique critical non-Covid procedures by both private and government facilities across the
country dropped over 20 per cent between February and April. The number of procedures performed in
these packages came down to 1,51,672 from 1,93,679 during this two-month period.

Within this, cancer-related procedures dropped around 57 per cent between February and April;
cardiology by 76 per cent and procedures in obstetrics and gynaecology were down nearly 26 per cent.
Emergency room packages requiring less than 12 hours of stay also dipped around 33 per cent between
February and April. These procedures have been grouped into 21 categories and other procedures in
this list include general surgery and medicine, urology and neurosurgery.

Hospital challenge

Fear and lockdown are keeping patients away. But once easing begins, they will return to hospitals for
key procedures. This is expected to add to the burden if the Covid curve continues to steepen.

Even when it comes to respiratory symptoms identified with Covid-like symptoms, procedures by both
government and private healthcare facilities dropped by nearly 80 per cent, according to separate
preliminary National Health Authority (NHA) data.

This when the government’s flagship healthcare scheme had expected its empanelled private hospitals
to shoulder the burden of treatments like dialysis and chemotherapies. These trends also assume
significance amid fears that easing of lockdown will spike case count and stretch the healthcare system.

Over 21,300 hospitals are empanelled with AB-PMJAY, including Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and HCG in
Andhra Pradesh, HCG and Wockhardt Hospital in Maharashtra, Paras Global Hospital in Bihar, and Sir
Ganga Ram and Medanta the Medicity in Delhi NCR. Private facilities account for 51 per cent of AB-
PMJAY’s overall treatment.

“While our total daily treatments have gone down by more than 50 per cent, essential treatments like
dialysis and chemotherapy have only gone down by 10-20 per cent,” said Indu Bhushan, CEO, NHA and
AB-PMJAY. “This is some consolation, but we were actually expecting them to increase because many of
the government facilities are not providing them at the moment. The private hospitals empanelled with
us should have been able to take over,” he added.

But the sharp drop in procedures is also attributed to the fact that many private hospitals shut down
during the lockdown.

“Treatment for some of these non-Covid cases is critical in a population like ours. Around 70 per cent of
critical treatment like dialysis and chemotherapies were being provided by the private sector. Now we
need to continue those operations,” said Bhushan. “This is the time that the private sector should be
looking at a welfare maximisation model and not a profit maximisation model. Hopefully this will
happen,” he had told The Indian Express.

The drop in treatment of respiratory ailments is also evident in the numbers. Severe Acute Respiratory
Illnesses (SARI) and Influenza Like Illness (ILI) treatment at private healthcare facilities dropped about 76
per cent between the month of February up to April 27, nearly as much as the 81 per cent drop
witnessed in these procedures by public facilities in the country, according to NHA.

“It is too soon to tell why public facilities are also witnessing a similar drop in SARI and ILI cases, but one
reason could include the fear of patients to step out of their houses during this time. Some hospitals
may also have reduced their operations,” said Bhushan.
“There is fear. Unlike in the West, here people do not go to the hospital on their own… All such patients
want to avoid that hospitalisation for now as they fear that hospitals are the epicentres of infection,”
said the CEO of a Bihar-based private hospital.

The NHA is still in the process of collating data on COVID procedures, for which it had announced
reimbursement early in April. According to Bhushan, there is yet to be an uptick in private facilities
claiming these reimbursements.

“We are not sure why more hospitals have not come forward when PMJAY is footing the bill for Covid-
19 testing and treatment, but it is still early days, so we are expecting participation to increase,”
Bhushan said.

At the same time, the NHA expects to bridge this gap by bringing more private healthcare facilities on
board using its Hospital Empanelment Module (HEM)-Lite system to temporarily fast track approvals for
empanelments during the pandemic.

Since then, the body has seen hospitals “trickling” in. As of May 4, the NHA has empanelled 53 hospitals,
mostly from Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The NHA has also approved new hospitals for
empanelment through the regular mechanism — 857 from states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/ayushman-bharat-admissions-under-critical-care-coronavirus-
pandemic-6395972/