Shining torches won't solve problem: Rahul on COVID-19
cutting their salaries," Priyanka Gandhi said.
She appealed to the Uttar Pradesh government to look into the issue, saying this is not the time to do injustice to these "warriors" but to listen to them.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday appealed to the central government to empower states in their fight against coronavirus by providing them with more finances and resources. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the Centre should also take state governments on board while evolving strategies to fight the deadly disease.
“We have talked about cooperative federalism. Time has come that we should walk the talk. The Centre should take the states together with it, empower them by providing them with more finances and resources. It is only when the states are capable and when the Centre has decentralised, that we can win this war against coronavirus,” she said.
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to people to light lamps and shine torches on April 5, saying it will not help India fight COVID-19.
He claimed not enough tests are being conducted in the country to combat the spread of coronavirus.
In a video message on Friday, Modi had urged people to switch off the lights in their homes and light lamps, candles or shine torches and mobile phone flashlights for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 to display the country's "collective resolve" to defeat coronavirus.
"India is simply not testing enough to fight the COVID-19 virus," Gandhi said on Twitter.
"Making people clap & shining torches in the sky isn't going to solve the problem," he said. In his message, Modi had also said that once people everywhere light lamps or shine flashlights of their mobile phones at their doorsteps or balconies, it will emerge in this "superpower" of brightness that "we are all fighting with a collective resolve".
It is required for the country's people to experience the "greatness, majesty and divinity" of this shared strength and resolve from time to time, he said.