In a virtual protest, Cong attacks govt over migrant crisis

New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday that the entire country, barring the central government, had heard the cries of anguish of migrant workers

New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday that the entire country, barring the central government, had heard the cries of anguish of migrant workers and felt their pain, as the party sharpened its criticism of the way the Centre handled the migrants’ crisis set off by the Covid-19 lockdown.

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In a video message posted as part of an online campaign by the Congress, Gandhi also urged the Centre to unlock its coffers to help those hit by the lockdown imposed on March 25, which sparked an exodus of tens of thousands of migrant workers from the cities to their homes in rural areas of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

The day-long “Speak Up India” campaign was launched by the opposition party to put pressure on the Centre to accept its demands for immediate financial aid to migrant workers, daily wage earners, farmers and small businesses hit by the pandemic.

In the absence of mass protests during the pandemic, the Congress had decided to open online fronts against the government. The campaign included messages through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube accounts.In a letter sent to state unit chiefs, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal asked them to mobilise around 5 million participants on all social media platforms to register their protest.

Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken later claimed that over 5.7 million party leaders and workers uploaded their messages on the social media throughout the day.“The campaign reached out to around 100 million people. It was a massive virtual rally. #SpeakUpIndia was also the top Twitter trend worldwide,” he said.

The Centre has denied ignoring the plight of the migrant workers left stranded by the lockdown, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at Congress for the campaign.

“Congress can neither rule nor play the role of a constructive opposition. What they did today was a drama. The least their party chief could have done was taken a leaf out of BJP president JP Nadda’s book and instructed party workers to feed hungry people and provide whatever help was needed,” BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said.

As the country experiences a serious economic crisis with loss of livelihoods, the central government has not helped those affected by the pandemic, Gandhi said.

“It is for the first time since Independence that such a spectre of pain and anguish has been witnessed, where lakhs of famished and thirsty labourers have been forced to walk hundreds of thousands of kilometres back home barefoot and without any access to medicines or transport,” the Congress chief said.

“Everyone across the country except the government heard their cries of pain and trauma,” she added.

Instead of loans, Gandhi said the government should provide financial aid to small and medium businesses so that millions of jobs are saved.“Crores of livelihoods have been lost, lakhs of businesses and factories shut and farmers are running from pillar to post to self their produce.”

Gandhi urged the Centre to unlock its coffers and help the needy by transferring cash of Rs 7,500 per month to every family for the next six months, ensuring safe and free travel of workers back home and doubling the number of work days to 200 a year under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi stressed the need to take the voice of the poor, migrant workers, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)to the government.

“India does not need debt, India needs money. Due to Covid-19, a storm has come in India and the poor have been hurt the most. Migrant workers have to walk hungry for hundreds of kilometres across the country and the MSMEs, which provide jobs to crores of people, are shutting down,” he said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cited the example of a toddler trying to wake her dead mother at a railway station to highlight the plight of migrants.

“We have seen the visuals of a son pulling a cart carrying his parents, a daughter taking her father 1,200 km on a bicycle, many people dying in trains, a child dying in the lap of his father and another child trying to wake up his dead mother on a railway platform. These visuals can make anyone cry. The country is pained to see such visuals,” she said.

Separately, former finance minister P Chidambaram attacked the government for discontinuing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bonds scheme, calling it another “cruel blow” to the citizens.The 7.75% Savings (Taxable) Bonds cease for subscription with effect from the close of banking business on Thursday.

“After lowering the interest rates in PPF {Public ProvidentFfund} and small savings instruments, the abolition of the RBI Bond is another cruel blow. All citizens must demand that the RBI Bond must be restored immediately,” Chidambaram tweeted.