Last month, Sachin Bansal had tweeted that people would have to learn to live with the virus
Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal said today if coronavirus lockdowns had happened in his childhood, he would have grown up in poverty and would not have achieved what he did. His tweets come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package to revive an economy battered by coronavirus and weeks of lockdown.
"If COVID lockdowns had happened in my childhood, my father's small business would have failed and I would have grown in poverty instead of a middle class household," tweeted Sachin Bansal, CEO of Navi Technologies and former CEO of Flipkart, which is now owned by Walmart.
"I wouldn't have managed to achieve a fraction of what I did without that enabling environment. THIS is actually happening to lakhs of kids today."
Last month, Mr Bansal had tweeted that people would have to learn to live with the virus as "We can't lock ourselves up for two years in homes waiting for a vaccine. India can't make use of the opportunities if our most productive people are locked in their homes."
The government says the lockdown since March 25 helped keep India's virus numbers to a relatively low count of cases and deaths. India has crossed 74,000 cases, but officials say without stay-at-home orders it would be far worse. However, the shutdown of shops, businesses and other work opportunities has devastated thousands of migrant workers and India's poorest, who have lost their livelihoods.
Yesterday, PM Modi announced a "lockdown 4" that would be different from what the country has seen so far, with new rules.
"Corona is here to stay, experts say. But we cannot let our lives be controlled by corona. We will have to live with it. We will wear masks and maintain physical distancing but not give up on our dreams," he said in a televised address to the nation.
"Lockdown 4 will have totally different rules and will be based on suggestions by the states. The new measures will be announced by May 18. We will fight and move forward by following rules," the PM said.