Narendra Modi was ahead of other leaders in seeing Covid-19 problem: Amartya Sen

In a recent interview with India Today, Sen said Modi was ahead of many contemporary world leaders in seeing the Covid-19 as a problem.

When he was asked to rate the Prime Minister in tackling the contagion, Sen, who had won the Nobel in Economics, said, "Well I would say that in seeing that the problem is there he was ahead of the many of the other leaders of the world."

"On the other hand people well off who were concerned (well off people were concerned) only with the stopping of the disease but not concerned with where their jobs or incomes are going to come from and in the absence of transport system, railways, buses and how the migrant workers will get back home.

In that respect, there was a lacunae, the lacunae was to recognise the nature of the problem but see it more in terms of the eyes of the relatively more comfortable chances.....," Sen, who had slammed Modi's demonestisation move in 2016, added.

Despite the crumbling economy with the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling in consecutive financial quarters, Modi preferred to save lives of millions by locking down 1.3 billion people of India in the last week of March.

Announcing the world's largest lockdown, Modi initially imposed restrictions on Mar 24 midnight for 21 days to stem the spread of Covid-19.

As the respiratory disease with no cure or vaccine further gained speed in spreading across the country, Modi extended the lockdown twice first by 19 days and later by two weeks.

The lockdown, which has scared people of job losses and price hike of commodities, is now due to end on May 18.