The Narendra Modi government has always stepped up to help people and countries in their time of need. Be it, the Nepal earthquake when India sent assistance or evacuating trapped Indians in Ukraine, the prime minister has ensured that the nation is always ready to assist
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a ‘tough man’ persona and that has been evident in his national security decisions.
However, in these eight years since he’s come to power, Narendra Modi has proved to be helpful to millions of people — in both, a personal and official capacity. He has stood by people in their hour of grief and extended foreign aid and assistance to crisis-hit countries such as Ukraine and Sri Lanka.
His government has always believed in lending a helping hand. Here’s a look at how Narendra Modi and his government haven’t shied away from being of assistance in times of crises.
Assistance to quake-hit Nepal
In 2015, the neighbouring Himalayan kingdom was struck by the region’s most powerful earthquake in 80 years, killing more than 8,000 people and injuring thousands and thousands of others.
The 7.8-magnitude quake had flattened more than 600,000 structures in Kathmandu and other nearby towns were either damaged or destroyed.
Even before the full extent of the damage could unfold in Nepal, India galvanised all its resources to help the Himalayan state cope with the tragedy.
At the time, Narendra Modi had said, “Nepal’s pain is our pain. Today’s earthquake has made us all very sad. Reports are still coming on the extent of the damage.”
He personally was involved in the framing of the rescue plan and later also donated a month’s salary towards Nepal’s relief efforts.
He dispatched relief and rescue teams, including medical teams, to Nepal. In addition to this, personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Air Force planes were deployed to help in the efforts.
In the immediate aftermath, India also sent 43 tonnes of relief material, including tents and food.
The Narendra Modi-led government also provided 1.54 billion Nepalese Rupees (nearly Rs 96 crore) to Nepal as part of its commitment towards assistance and rehabilitation after the 2015 earthquake.
Modi’s aid during COVID-19
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, India had imposed one of the longest and strictest lockdowns anywhere in the world. While the lockdown may have been effective in managing the spread of coronavirus, it also severely affected the poor and migrants.
In light of the situation, Narendra Modi government had announced the creation of an assistance and emergency relief fund where people could contribute and help in the government’s fight against coronavirus.
Moreover, the government took several other steps to reduce the hardships faced by the economically vulnerable section.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to address the welfare concerns of migrant workers, urban and rural poor, women, divyang, and all other disadvantaged sections of society.
The package comprised of cash through Direct Benefit Transfer and enhanced allocation of food grains under public distribution scheme, thereby helping the poor fight against COVID-19 while ensuring food security.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Ghebreyesus had praised the Modi government for the scheme.
The Centre also announced that that all children who had lost both parents and guardian due to the coronavirus infection would be supported under the ‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had said that fixed deposits would be opened in the names of such children, and the PM-CARES fund would contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each of them when he or she reaches 18 years of age.
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Evacuation efforts
The Narendra Modi has left no stone unturned when it comes to rescuing its citizens from crisis-hit countries — be it Afghanistan or even the recent efforts in Ukraine.
India, under Modi, has carried out various evacuation efforts and rescued countless of Indians as well as foreigners, who were in need of help.
Right after coming to power, the Narendra Modi government in June 2014 successfully rescued 46 nurses from Islamic State captivity in strife-torn Iraq.
Similarly, in 2015, the Modi government launched Operation Rahat to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen, which was witnessing fighting between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government.
Since Yemen was not accessible by air due to a no-fly zone announced by Saudi Arabia, India chose Djibouti initially as a centre to carry out initial evacuation by sea. At the end of the operation, India had rescued about 4,640 Indians stranded in Yemen, along with 960 foreign nationals from more than 41 countries.
When Kabul fell to Taliban in 2021, India, under Modi, once again initiated a swift evacuation campaign. Through IAF flights, India brought back 392 people, including two Afghan lawmakers.
In 2022, India through its Ganga Operation, evacuated citizens stranded in war-torn Ukraine. The operation to take out the trapped students from embattled cities Kharkiv, Sumy, and Pisochyn in Ukraine was formidable and challenging.
However, with the help of a well-laid plan and its diplomatic prowess, the Narendra Modi government managed to evacuate all those trapped in Ukraine, even though Ukrainian airspace had been shut down.
It was Narendra Modi’s phone calls with the Russian and Ukrainian heads of state that helped in the establishment of humanitarian corridors and allowed for clear passage of the trapped students to safety.
File image of workers unloading from a plane Covishield vaccines to India’s neighbouring countries. PTI
Vaccine Maitri
When the world was struck by COVID-19, India in 2021 launched the Vaccine Maitri (Vaccine Friendship) initiative – a major diplomatic effort to gift and supply made-in-India vaccines to low-income and developing countries globally.
Through the programme, India exported vaccines to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Morocco, South Africa, Afghanistan, Mexico, DR Congo, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
As per data provided by the Press Information Bureau, India had supplied COVID-19 related medical and other assistance, to over 150 countries till 29 November 2021. The data provided had shown that India had supplied 723.435 lakh doses of COVID vaccine to 94 countries and two UN entities in the form of grant, commercial export or through COVAX till 29 November 2021.
The programme had come to a halt in April 2021 when India was facing a severe shortage of vaccinations amid a surging second wave.
However, the programme was restarted in October in line of India’s motto of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.
Big Brother to Sri Lanka
When the idyllic island nation of Sri Lanka, with a population of 22 million people, descended into chaos and anger over the worst economic crisis, Narendra Modi-led India extended a helping hand.
On 22 May, news agency ANI reported that India had handed over a large amount of humanitarian assistance consignment worth over Rs 2 billion to the island nation. The consignment comprised 9,000 metric tonnes of rice, and 50 metric tonnes of milk powder, coupled with over 25 metric tonnes of drugs and other pharmaceutical supplies.
India has also delivered fuel to the economically-affected country.
On 3 May, The Hindu reported that India has extended nearly $3 billion to cash-strapped Sri Lanka since January 2022, by way of currency swaps, credit lines for essentials, and loan deferments to help Sri Lanka amidst one of its worst economic crises in history.
The assistance by the Modi government was lauded by many, including former cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya.
News agency ANI quoted him as saying, “You know as always as a neighbour, the big brother of the next to our country has been helping us… We are very grateful to the Indian government and Prime Minister Modi. So, for us event to survive it is not very easy at the moment, things are going through… I hope that things will change and also with the help of India and other countries we are trying to come out from the situation.”
With inputs from agencies
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