Sonia Gandhi said the crisis has pushed food secure families into food insecurity (File)
Highlights
- Congress accused BJP of "kidnapping and keeping in captivity" 16 MLAs
- She sought benefits for those without food security cards for 6 months
- These measures will safeguard people against food inflation, she said
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said it must be ensured that "no one faces hunger" because of the coronavirus lockdown. While she welcomed the centre's decision to provide grain at low prices, Mrs Gandhi urged that the scheme should be extended till September "given the chronic economic distress".
"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.
"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.
Mrs Gandhi in the letter suggested a few measures to ease economic pressure on the poor because of the "adverse impact of the lockdown and its prolonged impact of people's livelihoods".
"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.
The current crisis has pushed many relatively food secure families into food insecurity and poverty, Mrs Gandhi wrote, adding those who don't have the NFSA cards must also be provided the benefits under the law for a period of six months.
"The above measures are critical to safeguard 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.
Most of the businesses across the country are shut because of the lockdown announced by PM Modi last month to check the spread of coronavirus. Experts have warned that the lockdown is putting a burden on the economy, which was already reeling under flagging demand and low GDP growth.
The biggest sufferers of the lockdown are the migrant workers who lost their daily-wage jobs and have no means of sustenance. Many of them defied the lockdown last month as they marched on foot to their native towns and villages from the cities.
324 people have died of coronavirus in India with 51 deaths in the last 24 hours. The highly infectious novel coronavirus or COVID-19 has infected 9,352 people in the country.