New Delhi [India], April 1 : Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday appreciated the officers and staff of the House, who have contributed their one day's salary, amounting to about Rs 45 lakhs to PM CARES Fund to help in the ongoing fight against coronavirus.
The Speaker had on March 29 urged the MPs to forward consent letters to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation towards utilising a sum of Rs 1 crore or more from their MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) funds and supplement government's efforts to fight the global pandemic.
The government enforced a countrywide lockdown on midnight of March 24 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The total number of coronavirus cases in India stood at 1,637 on Wednesday, after 386 new positive cases were reported from yesterday till now.
The total tally includes 132 people who have been cured or discharged. A total of 38 people have died, as per the latest update by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Today is the eighth day of the 21-day lockdown in place across the country.
( With inputs from ANI )