Hyderabad (Telangana): Berhampore MP and senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should address the nation on India China conflict. While speaking to ETV Bharat, Chowdhury said, "If the Prime Minister can address the nation on every important event the country faces, I think this issue is equally important."
Congress leader also spoke on various issues which the country is dealing at present, putting an emphasis on migrant workers and mega economic package.
On Ladakh, lockdown and labourers
On the disengagement of India and China in the eastern sector of Ladakh and his demand that the Prime Minister should address the nation on the issue, Chowdhury said, “For the past one month, the Centre is silent on an extremely important area which holds strategical importance. Transgressions have taken place and military experts have been warning the Government on the issue. The Government needs to understand that people are restive, they want to know what exactly is happening in the area. If the Prime Minister can address the nation on every important event the country faces, I think this issue is equally important.”
The Congress leader has been specially vocal about the Shramik special trains being run to ferry migrant labourers during the time of the nationwide lockdown. He had gone to the extent of terming them 'death parlours'. Responding to a question, Chowdhury said, “It is sheer mismanagement of the Railways and lack of planning. The Indian Railways carries around 2.5 crore passengers every day, which roughly translates to the population of the whole world in a year. When under duress, this Government started ferrying the poor and vulnerable migrant workers but didn't pay any attention to the plight of those travelling in trains. For days and hours, the trains got delayed, resulting in extreme hardships during the harsh summer. It also resulted in the unfortunate deaths of around 90 people. We don't have any other word than death parlour for these trains.”
Migrant labourers
Blaming the Modi government for not adequately planning the lockdown and putting in place a roadmap for the migrant labourers, Chowdhury said “The Centre was never serious about the plight of the migrant workers. Hapless people are walking back. If they stayed back they thought more misfortune will come. No one from the government was there to reassure them. Out of fear they started to leave. Walking, cycling and trying to reach home. Why? Only because of an unplanned lockdown. A complete failure of the Government. The image of India has been tarnished due to this unplanned lockdown.
Even in sub-Saharan Africa, this sort of mass movement of hapless people doesn't happen. 200 countries have gone in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and nowhere this situation was seen. Some unfortunate souls have been mowed by a train, trampled by trucks and starved to death. What we witnessed was a caravan of death. Did the country deserve this? It was like witnessing the partition yet again. It is very unfortunate that the country is still divided into India and Bharat.
On the state of India's economy
Adhir Chowdhury was particularly critical about the Modi government's Rs 20 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat package, aimed at kick-starting the slowed-down economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown.
“This government is famous for tall talks and big promises. This announcement of Rs 20 lakh crores has been blown to smithereens by most experts. What they have done under the veil of this package is allocating a mere 1 per cent of the GDP for tackling our economy during these times of Coronavirus. Most of the package is nothing but the repackaging of earlier announcements. It was done to misguide people. The Congress has been repeatedly trying to tell the Government to transfer a one-time Rs 10,000 to all poor and keep paying a monthly amount of Rs 7,500 for another six months. This can only ease the situation a bit because without cash in hand of the common people, demand will never be generated. Our leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been saying this for long.”
Trying to decode the economic situation of the country and Centre's role, the Congress leader said Coronavirus is not the reason for the current economic situation of India.
“Our economy has been suffering even before this pandemic. Before Coronavirus, the economic growth figure of 3.1 per cent shows the sorry state of our economy. The pre-Corona unemployment rate of 8.5 per cent, which was the most alarming figure in 42 years, now stands at 27 per cent in the post-Corona scenario. Exports have been slow. Only the agriculture sector has shown some marginal growth and there has been some more public administration spending. We have to divide our economic situation into two halves, one before Corona pandemic and one after pandemic struck us. The data is clear for everybody to see and assess,” he said.
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