The Congress on Saturday said the financial package announced by the government and the steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India were insufficient while the situation on the ground was frightening and was deteriorating further.
“The government kept sleeping even as Rahul Gandhi alerted it on February 12 itself. The policy confusion continues even now. The financial package has helped nobody. The RBI is also moving in the wrong direction. Millions of people don’t have anything to eat; the situation on the ground is frightening,” party spokesperson Ajay Maken said.
Maken continued: “The Prime Minister should stop his monologues and answer questions. Doctors and health workers are still not getting personal protection equipments; situation is very bad in hospitals. Non-corona patients are being turned away. There is no roadmap to protect the economy.”
The Congress has kept up pressure on the government to deliver, pointing out deficiencies and offering constructive suggestions. At a news conference Rahul Gandhi addressed this week, he stuck to offering suggestions and refused to criticise the government, saying that could wait till after India defeats the virus.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday constituted a consultative group headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deliberate on the whole gamut of issues and formulate the party’s position.
The group, which will interact daily, includes Rahul Gandhi, P. Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Manish Tewari, K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Praveen Chakraborty, Gourav Vallabh, Supriya Shrinate and social media head Rohan Gupta.
Rahul on Saturday appeared to suggest that all the resources available within the country have not been summoned by the Prime Minister.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is a huge challenge but it is also an opportunity. We need to mobilise our huge pool of scientists, engineers & data experts to work on innovative solutions needed during the crisis,” he tweeted.
The party also voiced concerns of retailers, with Maken saying: “The Union home ministry issued an order which does not stop the e-commerce companies from trading non-essential items. It should clarify if the e-commerce companies have been allowed to trade non-essential items. If yes, the government should take steps so that a level playing field is provided for the locked-down small shop owners. This discrimination will have a debilitating impact on the retail sector.”
Arguing that retail, which generates more employment than any other sector except agriculture, was already in crisis after demonetisation and a “flawed” GST and is now having to pay salaries, rent, fixed electricity charges and property taxes at commercial rates despite the lockdown, Maken said: “E-commerce should not be given any undue advantage by allowing sale of non-essential items.”
On the RBI’s guidelines issued on Friday, Randeep Surjewala and Gourav Vallabh said in a statement: “RBI is focusing on increased liquidity to the banking and financial institutions which are not facing the problem of money. What did not happen during the 2017-2019 period of economic slowdown is being attempted during the pandemic and lockdown. When demand for goods and services have crumbled and is likely to remain benign more on account of fear than on account of lack of opportunities, instead of focusing on how to fuel the economy with demand, the RBI is focusing on increasing liquidity.”