Twenty-two leaders of the Opposition, led by the Congress came together for an exhaustive online meeting and put forward a list of 11 demands for the central government. The leaders of the Opposition held an online meeting on Friday to discus measures to deal with the coronavirus crisis. After the meetings, the leaders of various Opposition parties have come up with 11 demands which include free travel for migrant workers, direct cash transfers to families outside the Income Tax Bracket and restoration of the parliament sessions.
The list of the demands made by the Opposition parties was brought out by the Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala during an online briefing after the meeting was competed. Randeep Surjewala said that the government’s “grand announcements” were not enough to help the migrants who were already distressed and inadequate in addressing the most urgent concerns of small farmers and medium businessmen.
He noted that the Opposition represented more than 60% of India’s population and thus the Centre had no option but to pay heed to their demands.
The first demand that was made by the Opposition parties was that the government must engage in direct cash transfers of Rs 7,5oo per month to all families that fell outside the Income Tax bracket for a period of a minimum of six months. They also highlighted the importance of arranging free transport to help migrant workers reach home. Provisions of sufficient funds to the states in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the reinstallation of the labour laws.
The Opposition parties said that it was extremely important for the Centre to consult the state governments in its decision making process especially regarding the lockdown and important issues such as the resumption of flight. They accused the ruling party of taking away the powers of all the states.
The meeting of the Opposition parties was attended by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackery, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren among others and leaders like Bahujan Samajwadi Chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Chief Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal were among those who didn’t attend the meeting.
During the meeting, President of Congress Sonia Gandhi said that the Centre’s package of Rs 20 lakh crore which was unveiled a month ago to help the nation fight the pandemic was a “cruel joke” on the country. She also warned that federalism is disappearing from the country.
The party highlighted the plight of the migrant worker who have been rendered helpless in the lockdown.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appealed to the PM Narendra Modi to reconsider the package and provide direct cash transfers to the vulnerable sections of the Indian population.
The Centre’s 20 lakh crore economic package consists of five parts and focusses on mirco, small and medium size enterprises, alleviating the plight of migrant workers, improving agriculture and allied industries, coal mining and defence sector and allocations under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act.
