Vocal critic of Government’s decision of nationwide lock down last year ,congress leader Rahul Gandhi today hinted that steps taken by the central government till now will not be able to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging India. He also accused the government of causing loss of life through its inaction.
“The only way to stop the spread of Corona now is a full lockdown – with the protection of NYAY for the vulnerable sections,” Mr Gandhi tweeted today, prefacing the statement with, “GOI (Government of India) doesn’t get it.”
Mr Gandhi also said, “GOI’s inaction is killing many innocent people.”
Similarly the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called for a nationwide lockdown to control the deadly second surge of coronavirus pandemic. The top traders’ association claimed that 67 per cent of individuals who participated in their online survey favoured a nationwide lockdown to break the chain of transmission. CAIT national president BC Bhartia and secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal requested PM Modi to impose a national lockdown with immediate effect. However, if a nationwide lockdown is not possible, the CAIT has recommended a complete lockdown in states where Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly.
CAIT has assured that if the government announces a national lockdown, the trading community will ensure the availability and supply of essential goods like last year.
As per CAIT, 9,117 traders across the country participated in its survey and about 78.2% of respondents feel that India’s covid situation is uncontrollable. Over 67% of people advocated for pan-India lockdown.
Raising his voice in support of lockdown noted epidemiologists like Anthony Fauci also vouched for short duration complete lockdowns to lower the caseloads as India has been reporting over 3 lakh cases and 3 thousand deaths for the past many weeks.
Earlier the Supreme Court of India had also urged the Centre and states “to consider imposing a lockdown to break the chain in the interest of public welfare”. A three-member apex court bench, comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Ravindra Bhat said, “We are cognizant of the socio and economic impact of a lockdown, specifically, on the marginalized communities thus, in case the measure of a lockdown is imposed, arrangements must be made beforehand to cater to the needs of these communities.”
Time has come when the Government of India should take unavoidable decision of complete lockdown to arrest further rise in numbers of fresh cases and fatalities.
Report- Vikas Chandra Agrawal