In the first year of COVID-induced lockdown, helplines run by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) received over 13,000 distress calls of which over 11,000 calls were for food and shelter, according to the Ministry’s annual 2020-21 report.
The report said that around 41,000 relief camps and shelters were set up and more than 14 lakh people were housed there.
The Ministry stated that the nationwide lockdown was announced considering the “global experience” and the need for consistency in the approach and implementation of various measures across the country, including enhancing capacities in terms of testing, quarantine, isolation and hospital beds and ICU beds among others.
