{"id":21899,"date":"2020-03-26T08:58:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T03:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmir.today\/coronavirus-outbreak-rahul-gandhi-calls-for-two-pronged-strategy\/"},"modified":"2020-03-26T08:58:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T03:28:20","slug":"coronavirus-outbreak-rahul-gandhi-calls-for-two-pronged-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=21899","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus outbreak | Rahul Gandhi calls for two-pronged strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Expand testing, give financial aid to prevent job losses and reassure businesses\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hindu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday suggested a two-pronged strategy to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, while his party demanded the implementation of the minimum income guarantee scheme for the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question is how can we minimise casualties in this war. I believe our strategy should have 2 components. The govt should give financial support to prevent massive job losses and reassure business owners,\u201d Mr. Gandhi tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsolate the virus and block its escape routes. Massively expand testing facilities to identify and treat those who are infected. Create massive emergency field hospitals, particularly in urban areas, with full ICU capability to provide care to patients,\u201d said the Congress leader who had raised an alarm about COVID-19 as early as February 12. Mr. Gandhi said the daily wage earners must be extended immediate help through direct cash transfers and free rations. \u201cDelaying this will cause widespread devastation & chaos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tax breaks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He said many industries were struggling and they should be helped through tax breaks and financial support to prevent massive job losses, and the government must reassure business owners of all support to tide over the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congress urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement the Nyunatam Aay Yojana (Nyay) or the minimum income guarantee scheme it had promised in its 2019 election manifesto. The Nyay had promised to transfer \u20b972,000 annually to the 20% of the poorest families in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDear PM, need of the hour is to implement forthwith Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme (Nyay), mooted by Rahulji & Congress. Please transfer Rs 7,500 to every Jan Dhan A\/C, PM Kisan A\/C & every Pension A\/C to tide over nutrition needs of 21 days and give free PDS ration,\u201d tweeted Congress communication chief Randeep Singh Surjewala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Lacks strategy\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a series of tweets, Mr. Surjewala said that though the party supported the lockdown, it is \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d by a lack of a coherent strategy on the part of the Modi government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease remember, Trying times are true test of leadership. Is government ready to rise up & deliver,\u201d he asked and added, \u201cThe Congress demands a comprehensive package for daily wagers, MGNREGA workers, factory workers, unorganised workers, fishermen and farm labourers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Congress also objected to the fact that the Central government barred the export of ventilators, respiratory devices and sanitisers only on March 24, 84 days after the spread of COVID-19. \u201cIs this your government\u2019s modus operandi to fight coronavirus? Too little, too late,\u201d said Mr. Surjewala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expand testing, give financial aid to prevent job losses and reassure businesses\u2019 The Hindu Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday suggested a two-pronged strategy to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, while his party demanded the implementation of the minimum income guarantee scheme for the poor. \u201cThe question is how can we minimise casualties in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}