Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to provide Rs 6,000 per month to the poor and needy in various states under lockdown.
He said that in view of the ongoing pandemic and the lockdowns, "poor, daily wagers and the marginalised sections" of the society have been rendered unemployed, resulting in their "incomes dwindling and them not being able to provide for and feed their family".
"The Congress President has suggested that the centre should provide free food grains to the needy and give Rs 6000 per month to all the jobless people. In view of the above-mentioned condition of the poor and downtrodden due to the ongoing pandemic, I shall request that at least to start with you may give serious thought to the suggestion of the Congress President that the Central Government should resort to direct cash transfer of Rs 6,000 per month in the bank accounts of all the eligible poor people of the States under lockdown, including the State of West Bengal," Mr Chowdhury said.
He added that this will not only mitigate the sufferings of the millions of poor "but it is good economics as well because it will have a multiplier effect on the economy."
On Saturday Mr Chowdhury had said Prime Minister Modi should address the nation immediately in view of "exponential surge" in coronavirus cases and apprise citizens of the road map to deal with the situation.
The Congress leader had said the situation appears to be "spiralling out of control".
"The Prime Minister of India should instill confidence into the people. Should not hesitate to resort to any option including strict lockdown," he had tweeted.
Mr Chowdhury had on Friday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to call an early meeting of the Public Accounts Committee to deliberate upon the pandemic situation and the government's COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Earlier, he had written another letter to Birla and President Ram Nath Kovind requesting them to convene a special session of the Parliament to discuss the health emergency due to COVID-19.
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