Congress backs govt. steps: Sonia

In letter to PM, she offers suggestions

27/03/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Sonia Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing solidarity with his call for a 21-day lockdown to fight COVID-19 and offering some sector-specific suggestions.

“It has imperilled lives and put at risk the lives and livelihoods of millions, particularly, the most vulnerable sections of our society. The entire nation stands as one in solidarity in the fight to halt and defeat the Corona pandemic,” she said in a letter.

Ms. Gandhi said, “As president of the Indian National Congress, I would like to state that we will support and collaborate fully with every step taken by the Union government to ensure the containment of the pandemic. At this challenging and uncertain time, it is imperative for each one of us to rise above partisan interests and honour our duty towards our country and indeed, towards humanity.”

Ms. Gandhi also offered some suggestions in the spirit of “solidarity and cooperation” for the “massive health crisis we are about to face and to ameliorate the immense economic and existential pain that vulnerable sections of our society will soon be subjected to.”

“I would like to re-emphasise the urgent need to arm our doctors, nurses and health workers with ‘personal protection equipment’,” she said. “Let us ensure the opening and scaling up of manufacture and supply of these items so that not a single health professional faces the predicament of contracting or passing on COVID-19 owing to unavailability of ‘personal protection equipment’. Announcing a special ‘Risk Allowance’ for doctors, nurses and health workers for a period of six months retrospectively from the 1st of March 2020, is imperative.”

Over the last few weeks, there had been much uncertainty about designated hospitals and their locations, number of beds, isolation chambers, ventilators, dedicated medical teams, medical supplies, among others.

Harvesting season

Since the lockdown came just ahead of the harvesting season by March-end and nearly 60% of India’s population being economically dependent on agriculture, the government should take steps to enable harvesting and procurement of crops at minimum support price and suspend all recoveries from farmers for next six months, she said.

The government should either implement the Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme or the ‘NYAY Yojana’, as was proposed by the Congress, or consider a one-time cash payment.