The Congress, which has been repeatedly pleading for aggressive testing to detect and isolate Covid-19 patients, has appealed to the civil society to collectively mount pressure on the Narendra Modi government as India enters the critical phase in the battle against the virus.

Frustrated by the government’s attitude, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday issued a video message asking the citizens — particularly politicians, doctors, scientists, journalists and celebrities — to convince the government that an acceleration in testing is crucial.

This appeal came after several letters by the Congress leadership to the Prime Minister and public appeals failed to extract the desired response.

The number of cases is now rising fast but India is still among the lowest in the world in terms of testing. While initial reports suggested only 29 people were being tested in a million, it has now been increased to 50, still lower than what much smaller countries are doing.

Asking the citizens to raise their voice in whichever manner possible, Priyanka said that while Italy failed to contain the virus, South Korea controlled the spread by conducting tests on thousands of people daily.

She said: “Testing not only enables us to determine who has coronavirus, it also gives us extremely valuable information about severity of disease, disease clusters and areas which need to be immediately isolated. If testing is not exponentially ramped up, we will be wasting precious time in our fight to save lives. We just cannot afford to lose a single day.”

She added: “The rate of testing in our country is nowhere what it should be. Reports of community transmission have started coming in. We can’t afford to lose one day now. Even if 1 per cent of our population is severely affected, that is more than 13 million patients for our hospitals to handle. The burden on our healthcare system will be overwhelming. Our doctors and nurses are working on the frontlines day and night. They are risking their lives and doing all they can to save our lives. Let us help them save lives.”

Although Priyanka did not refer to the Prime Minister’s controversial calls for clanging plates and lighting candles, her sharp focus on substantive issues was aimed at sending out a message that public mobilisation can be done for constructive purposes.

Coming a day after the 9pm-9-minute candlelight-show, the appeal points to the deficiencies in government planning and approach. The Congress Working Committee has already presented a detailed action plan before the government.

Rahul Gandhi on Monday highlighted another significant issue: communal divide that can prove a disturbing hindrance in the unity of purpose that the country needs at this critical juncture.

Rahul tweeted: “The coronavirus is an opportunity for India to unite as one people, putting aside differences of religion, caste & class; to forge one common purpose: the defeat of this deadly virus. Compassion, empathy & self sacrifice are central to this idea. Together we will win this battle.”

There has been brazen attempts to communalise the cause of health emergency by a section of media and many BJP functionaries by seeking to blame the Tablighi Jamaat, a group whose congregation in Delhi in mid-March left many infected. The Prime Minister, or any government official, has so far not tried to douse the communal fire even as the discourse is continuing for several days now.

The Congress also asked the government to share with farmers and migrant labourers at least a fraction of the Rs 20 lakh crore that the Centre has earned over the past six years because of low crude oil prices in the international market.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: “The crude rate was $108 a barrel in 2014 March and it was $23 a barrel on March 30, 2020. The rate has hovered around $35-40 a barrel all these years. The government never passed on the benefit to the consumers and roughly earned Rs 20 lakh crore in six hears.”

Singhvi added: “This is not the time for profiteering. Why can’t the government offer a fraction of this gain to the farmers and migrant labourers? When there is a drop of $1 in crude oil price, the government saves Rs 10,704 crore. The real price of petrol today is Rs 28 and the government is selling at Rs 73-74…. The government hiked Rs 3 per litre on petrol on March 14 in the middle of Corona season. The price of an LPG cylinder, which was Rs 412 in 2014, has now been doubled. When the prices of essential commodities are soaring because of lockdown, the government must share its profit from petroleum products with the poor.”