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‘Lockdown not an ‘on-off’ switch; must be lifted intelligently, carefully’: Rahul Gandhi
Gandhi said that the government will have to ensure that the lifting of the lockdown does not “sacrifice the vulnerable people”.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the coronavirus lockdown is not a simple thing, it is not an “on-off switch”and should be lifted intelligently.
“We will have to make that transition, we will have to lift the lockdown and when we do that, we need to ensure that we do intelligently,” Gandhi said in his live press conference on Saturday noon. He said that the government will have to ensure that the lifting of the lockdown does not “sacrifice the vulnerable people”.
“We need to take care of the vulnerable people. The elderly people, those suffering from diabetes, hypertension, kidney diseases, et cetera. They must be taken care of,” he said.
Gandhi’s comments came on the sidelines of his interaction with members of the regional electronic media on Saturday. He went on to take questions and suggestions from representatives from regional electronic media. The Congress leader also reacted to the Centre’s economic stimulus package which was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week.
He said that small and medium businesses, the farmers and the labourers are important for the economy to start, therefore the government must focus on ways to put money immediately in their pockets and “reconsider the stimulus package”.
“I have a serious reservation about the nature of the package and I would like the government to reconsider it” Gandhi said on Saturday, adding that it is important to put money “directly into the hands of our people”.
