By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Amid chaos and heart-wrenching scenes across the country due to Covid-19 locked down, the main opposition Congress on Saturday took the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the task for this. Like demonetization, it said the BJP-led government was ‘ill-prepared’ for implementing 21 days lockdown that has made thousands of poor people and migrant workers’ lives miserable who ran out food and money. Party also pointed out that the country lacked adequate the Personal Protection Equipments for doctors (PPE), and ventilator as well testing facilities which is the lowest in the world while the Coronavirus pandemic is making a bigger footprint in India every day.
Addressing a press conference here at the party headquarters, senior congress leader and spokesperson Ajay Maken said that the Modi Government was “ill prepared” for fighting the Coronavirus and acted in a knee jerk manner.
“They (government) took three days time, they gave three days notice to implement 21 days lockdown, so, why didn’t the ruling BJP, they gave enough time people to prepare and prepared themselves.”
Congress said the lockdown was late and the PM did not take threat of corona virus seriously. Even, former party chief Rahul Gandhi himself first tweeted about Coronavirus threat, way back on February12, 2020 cautioning the government that they should start preparing now and the PPE, the Personal Protection Equipments for doctors.
Even, Maken said, the ventilators are required in scores of lakhs but just 40-50 thousand of ventilators was ordered that too on Friday.
“The orders have been given yesterday for 50-40 thousands more ventilators whereas the number of ventilators required in scores of lakhs which is why such precious time was wasted, when everything was happening around the world?”
The Personal Protective Equipments also are not there in adequate numbers and the Government has banned the exports just two days back, he added.
In response to another question, he said the party appealed to UP Chief Minister not put people who crossed UP border into jail and ensure that all of them send to their homes, with their respective families and the villages.
“They are properly screened also, like the Rajasthan Government is doing. In Rajasthan, the state Government is screening all those who are coming from Gujarat and they are ensuring that they are taken to their respective homes. So, the UP Government should also do this”.
He also asked the Center to make its position clear, whether the interstate borders would be closed.
In reply to another question that the experts are expressing fears that the country might have entered the third stage of the disease, which is the one about community transmission? Would it be a good idea to transport the migrant workers back together on buses or trains and risk the chances of an infection?
Maken said, ‘that is the reason why I said- it should be done cautiously, care should be taken that social distance is maintained while taking care of these people, because already, as far as the reports, which we are seeing, the visuals which we are getting, they are already moving in a crowds as if they are going in a rally, so social distancing should be ensured.”
He also asked the government to transfer Rs. 7,500 into migrant workers’ bank accounts that would help them to stay where they are and the State Government also, the other state governments.
Meanwhile, the party has constituted a task force to intensify the efforts of Congress ruled State governments to deal with the grave situation prevailing on account of COVID-19 in a coordinated manner. P. Chidambaram, Veerappa Moily and Jairam Ramesh and other are its members.