Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the lockdown is not a solution to Coronavirus but just like a “pause button” adding that a shutdown only allows time and space.
“When we come out of the lockdown, the virus is going to start its work again. No way this lockdown is going to stop this virus,” he asserted in a press briefing via video conference.
He added that the lockdown “has not resolved the problem but only postponed it.”
Reiterating his earlier assertions, Rahul Gandhi said the biggest weapon against Coronavirus is testing. He said if India has to win fight against the virus, then the country has to increase testing dramatically and go from chasing the virus to moving ahead of it.
He also called for random testing and pre-emptive measures where the virus is active.
The Congress leader said India’s testing rate has been 199 out of a million in the last 72 days, which is 350 tests per district.
Asserting that this measure was the only way to go, Rahul Gandhi said testing must be used to create map and COVID-19 hotspots.
“Push testing aggressively and use testing strategically to assist the states in their fight. Use it not to just track patients but to create a map of India to see where the virus is moving,” he said.
Stating that India is in an emergency situation, Gandhi urged for the need for an “bottom-up approach” and said that the Centre, states and districts must work united to fight the virus.
“We need to fight coronavirus on state-level and district-level. The fight against coronavirus should not be top-down but bottom-up. The PM’s role is to empower the concerned authorities. We need to fight together and utilise our assets,” he said.
Stating the success achieved by Kerala’s Wayanad constituency of which he is the MP, Rahul Gandhi said “Our main force is working at the state and district levels”. “Success has been achieved in Wayanad because of the effective machinery at the district level”.
The Congress MP further called for empowering the states to fight the pandemic.
“Give power to the states, have proper and full conversations with the Chief Ministers and District heads,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi further said that food supply will face problems and complications after the Coronavirus lockdown. He also added that the first wave of unemployment will hit India after the lockdown is lifted.
He called for strategic measures to protect lives as well as economy.
Sharing a few constructive suggestions, Rahul Gandhi called for creating safety nets for poor, protecting small companies like SMEs and developing virus curbing strategies. He added that there needs to be a strategy for migrants and the issue has to be resolved with care.
“Government needs to act on it (migrant issue) quickly or it will result in social unrest. If people are coming out, there is a valid reason to it – they are starving. Stop the blame game,” he said.
The former Congress president went on to say that “this is not the time to fight between ourselves, but unite against Coronavirus.”
He also urged the people to not be scared of unemployment, food shortage and being locked up. “Coronavirus is giving all nations this message: If you unify we will win, otherwise not,” he added.
As he concluded the briefing, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress party wants to give constructive help which the Government may or may not accept. “We have to proceed with confidence,” he said.
Since the Coronavirus pandemic hit the country, the Congress has been suggesting several measures to help the marginalised sections and daily wagers combat the crisis that has evolved out of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, party president Sonia Gandhi had slammed the lockdown as “unplanned” and emphasised that testing could only combat this disease which the country is “lacking” and demanded the Government to prepare and publish a “Common minimum relief package”.