The Intrepid Firefighter

Nirmala Sitharaman has steered the country’s economy through one of its most trying times ever, having a far-reaching impact on lives and livelihoods.

- ASHUTOSH KUMAR

THIRTY SIX HOURS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the nationwide lockdown in March 2020, the first cabinet minister to hold a press conference was Nirmala Sitharaman. The entire country was eagerly waiting for her to unveil the government’s thought process as equity indices had crashed a day before and the economy was about to take a body blow due to the pandemic.

Both “lives and livelihoods” had to be taken care of, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tells Fortune India one-and-a-half years into the pandemic and many more initiatives later. India’s 28th finance minister recalls that phase and 18 months after that as the most challenging period of her career.

“We do not want anyone to remain hungry,” Sitharaman said at that eagerly awaited press conference on March 26, 2020, the second day of the nationwide lockdown that began at 00:00 hours on March 25/26. With the announcement of the ₹1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana, or PMGKY, a direct cash and food grain scheme, Sitharaman made the government’s resolve clear. One part of the fund was for cash transfer to the needy. The other was for providing them food security.

The jury for Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women awards was impressed with the far-reaching impact of Sitharaman’s immediate initiatives on the vast majority of Indians.