Madhya Pradesh has reported over 9,600 cases of coronavirus so far (Representational)
A woman who used to sell "prasad" outside a temple in Bhopal claims she was forced to mortgage her mangalsutra in order to feed her family amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Kaushaliya Patil told news agency ANI that she mortagaged her mangalsutra for Rs 5,000 as her business took a hit when temples were shut down to curb the spread of coronavirus.
"I have a hope that devotees again will throng the temple. But, if the situation does not change, hunger will kill us if not coronavirus. My husband is also paralysed. I have now sold my mangalsutra for Rs 5,000 to feed the family," she told ANI.
"My son works at the petrol pump. He gets a very little salary with which I am able to run the household," she added.
Ms Patil lives in a slum which is just a few metres away from the Vidhan Sabha secretariat.
Recently, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched the Street Vendor Registration Portal and Mukhyamantri Shahri Path Vyavsayi Utthan Yojana to help them tide over the crisis.
The state government also transferred Rs 300 crore to urban local bodies.
The centre has also launched a special credit facility of Rs 5,000 crore with the aim to provide vendors in need with Rs 10,000 as initial working capital.
Madhya Pradesh has reported over 9,600 cases of coronavirus so far with over 400 deaths.