Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been holding video conference with influencers from different fields to bring everyone onboard in the battle against COVID-19. In keeping with this effort, he will hold a meeting with leaders of all political parties who have members in the Parliament.
The meeting has been scheduled for April 8, when the country will be entering the last week of the lockdown. Modi had held meetings with the state chief ministers, but this will be his first meeting with the leaders of different political parties after the lockdown.
The opposition parties had questioned the implementation of the lockdown saying not enough planning had gone into it, and alleged that other parties were not kept in the loop about how the Centre is handling the national disaster. The government has also not held and all-party meeting in this regard.
India has already reached half-way mark of the lockdown. There are two key takeaways till now—COVID-19 cases are growing faster, and so is people’s misery due to the lockdown.
During his meeting with the chief ministers, the prime minister had asked them to look for staggered lifting up of the lockdown, depending on the local conditions. States like Punjab which are under stringent curfew may look to extend it even after April 15. But they are relaxing conditions for farmers to harvest their wheat crops. As this is crucial not only for their livelihood, but also to meet the food security of the country. Not allowing farmers to harvest their crops may also lead to unrest.
As the fight against COVID-19 is a national one, all parties need to be onboard and working for a common cause. Prime Minister Modi is expected to enlist the support of these MPs for concentrated effort as the country is in for a long haul. Many restrictions are expected to stay, and their impact on the poor are devastating. The government has picked up only those parties that have at least five MPs combined in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Almost all the BJP MPs have responded to the call of donating either their salaries or MPLAD funds to the newly set-up PM-CARES fund, but not all opposition MPs have extended support in this regard.
Meanwhile, the BJP is pooling all its resources behind Modi’s effort. Party chief JP Nadda holds video conference with party leaders everyday to review arrangements for providing food and their engagement within the community.
Nadda asked party leaders to ask people to download the new app launched by the government— Aarogya Setu. “This will enable people to assess the risk of catching corona infection. We should download it in our respective smart phones and inspire others to do the same,” Nadda said.
The party is also trying to create awareness among the people about the importance of cleanliness in warding off the disease. “We should promote the sacrament of cleanliness. We are delivering food to the five crore poor and needy people of the country every day, but we need to spread awareness too among the people about every aspect of prevention from Corona,” said Nadda.
Talking about government efforts, Nadda said the Modi government has released Rs. 17,287 crore to the states. The ministry of home affairs has approved the grant of Rs 11,092 crore from the State Disaster Hazard Management Fund (SDRMF) to the states. Along with this, the finance ministry has also released Rs 6,195 crore under ‘revenue deficit grant’ under 15th Finance Commission recommendations to 14 states.
The BJP president said according to the latest figures, there were 1.52 lakh beds, 4,307 hospitals, 33,000 ICU beds and 16,000 ventilators ready to fight COVID-19 in the country. Approximately 10,000 personal protection kits are being prepared every day. Adequate and fast testing is also being done, so there is no need to panic, he said.
