She welcomed the centre’s decision to provide food grain at low prices and urged that the scheme should extend till September given the chronic economic distress.
(Photo: IANS)
Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking her to ensure that “no one faces hunger” amid the coronavirus lockdown.
She welcomed the centre’s decision to provide food grain at low prices and urged that the scheme should extend till September given the chronic economic distress.
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“I hope this letter finds you well. Lakhs of vulnerable people across the country face chronic food insecurity due to the lockdown. This is tragic given that India has large buffer stock of food grains precisely for exigencies like the current pandemic,” she said in her letter to the PM.
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“I welcome your decision to provide free of cost, 5kg grain/person in addition to the entitlements under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from April-June, 2020,” she added.
In the letter, she also suggested measures to ease economic pressure on the poor.
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“Firstly, the provision of 10 kg grains/person to NFSA (National Food Security Act) beneficiaries must be extended for an additional period of 3 months i.e. till September 2020. Given the chronic economic distress faced by these beneficiaries, the food entitlements may be provided free of cost,” she said.
She further said that the current crisis has pushed many relatively food secure families into food insecurity and poverty. She also suggested that those who don’t have the NFSSA card must also be provided of the law for a period of six months.
“The above measures are critical to safeguarding people against food inflation, at a juncture where supply chain disruptions are causing price rise …In our fight against the pandemic we must ensure that no one faces hunger,” she wrote.
The 21-day lockdown which is scheduled to end tomorrow will be extended till April 30. Prime Minister is scheduled to address the nation tomorrow at 10 am and is anticipated to speak on the extension of lockdown only.
It is further expected that this time the lockdown will come with some modifications. The lockdown will not be same for businesses in the country as the Government has decided to allow 15 various industries to commence operations but with minimum manpower and distancing norms on a single shift basis.
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