Evolve political consensus to fight surge in infection, Sonia tells govt
With India facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday urged the Centre to evolve a national policy to deal with the pandemic after bringing about a political consensus on it.
In a video message, she said it is time for the central and state governments to wake up and fulfil their duties.
Gandhi also said COVID-19 jabs should be provided free of cost to all citizens and sought compulsory licensing to ramp up vaccine production to speed up the country’s inoculation drive to help save Indians.
“I urge the central government to evolve a national policy to deal with the COVID crisis in the country and a strategy to bring about a political consensus over it,” the Congress president said.
She also said that the central government should “first think about the poor and provide them with Rs 6,000 each to the bank accounts of all to stop their migration, till the end of the pandemic”.
Gandhi called for increasing testing and checking the black marketing of essential life-saving drugs besides providing oxygen, medicines and other equipment to hospitals on a war-footing.
The discrimination over vaccine pricing should end and black marketing of life-saving drugs be stopped and all industrial oxygen be provided to hospitals for medical purposes, she said.
The Congress chief said her party will stand with the Centre in the fight against the pandemic and appealed to all Indians to unite in these testing times.
She also prayed for the good health of all Indians during these challenging times of the pandemic and offered her heartfelt condolences to the lakhs of families who have lost their loved ones.
“Our country is facing the pandemic and lakhs of our citizens have been affected by coronavirus everyday.
This crisis is the testing time for all of us and we have to hold each other’s hands, support each other and be their strength. “This is the time for central and state governments to wake up and fulfil their duties,” she said.