Congress slams govt’s anti-COVID measures, demands Financial Action Plan II

The Congress Working Committee on Thursday made a strong critique of the Narendra Modi government's anti-COVID measures, saying it had miserably failed to provide adequate livelihood support to the poor in the backdrop of the severe restrictions imposed under the 21-day lockdown, and demanded a Financial Action Plan II to alleviate their hardship.

“Regrettably, the government has miserably failed to provide adequate livelihood support to the poor. The Financial Action Plan I announced on 25 March 2020 was miserly, hopelessly inadequate and left out several vulnerable sections of the people,” the CWC said.

The committee said the financial action plan failed to instill confidence in the poor and resulted in the reverse-migration of thousands of workers. “That spectacle will forever remain a blot on the Modi government,” it said.

The CWC demanded that the government immediately announce Financial Action Plan II that will reassure the poor people and also provide adequate financial support to the sections that were left out, including farmers, tenant farmers, landless agricultural workers, MGNREGA workers without work under the scheme, laid-off industrial workers and Jan Dhan account holders.

The Congress panel said the financial measures would require massive resources in the order of Rs 5-6 lakh crore. “Anything less will be totally insufficient and may actually exacerbate the situation,” it said, suggesting that the resources can be found within the country and largely within the expenditure budgets of the central and state governments for 2020-21.

It reminded that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had written to the prime minister for immediate transfer of Rs 7,500 to every Jan Dhan account and every PM Kisan account to tide over the 21-day lockdown, and demanded that this suggestion be be immediately accepted by the government. It said that supply of 10 kg free ration to every individual through PDS for the lockdown period needs to be implemented. “It is the foremost duty of the government to ensure shelter, rent relief, wages and food to the poor,” the CWC said, stressing that the NYAY scheme put forward by the party offers a useful model that can be adapted and implemented.

The meeting of the Congress' highest decision making body was held to discuss the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first-ever meet of the CWC to be held over video-conferencing.

Chaired by the party president, the meeting was attended by senior leaders, AICC general secretaries and state-in charges and chief ministers. Among those who addressed the meet were former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior leaders including P. Chidambaram, A.K. Antony and Ahmed Patel, chief ministers Capt. Amarinder Singh, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The CWC said the government has erred in adopting a strategy of limited testing. “A lockdown or any other kind of restrictions is futile unless it is accompanied by extensive testing. It is extensive testing that has yielded results in some countries. Inexplicably, we have not put to full use even our limited testing capacity. The flawed strategy must be revised and testing must be scaled up urgently,” it said.

The committee urged the government to undertake massive production and procurement of personal protection equipment, hazmat suits, body overalls, goggles, gloves, N-95 masks and ventilators. It said medical infrastructure should be expanded on a war footing with more isolation wards, hospital beds, testing labs and quarantine facilities, and supply of drugs must be maintained at pre-February levels and all drug stores must be directed and facilitated to function for an adequate number of hours a day.

With regard to ready-to-harvest crops, the panel stressed that if harvesting and procurement at MSP does not take place forthwith, it would put the food security of India under a question mark. “Onus lies on Central Government to gear up procurement through FCI and other agencies and ensure remunerative prices for the farmers,” it said.

In a critique of the pre-Lockdown planning, the party said that supply chains to crores of people, especially those living in towns, cities and remote villages,  have been severely disrupted by “poor preparation and thoughtless orders and notifications”. If people have to survive in a lockdown, these supply chains must be immediately restored and maintained throughout the period of restrictions.

The party has sought relief to the people through steps such as cutting GST rates for a period of three months on goods of mass consumption, mandatorily postponing tax payment deadlines and EMI dates to June 30 and beyond, restoring the thoughtless reduction in interest rates on PPF and small savings.

It called upon the government to make arrangements for return of thousands of Indian students, citizens and sailors who are stranded abroad.

Highlighting the concerns of state governments, the CWC spoke about the states having complained of inadequate financial resources in the absence of the Centre not releasing the states' share in the GST.

The CWC asked the government to be ready with a revival plan for the economy, and demanded that it immediately appoint an Economic Task Force consisting of world renowned economists to suggest three plans—an emergency plan within one week, a short to medium term plan within one month and a medium to long term plan within three months.