Punjab’s five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said that the nationwide lockdown was “the right medicine at the right time but with painful side effects which need to be attended to immediately before they become more dangerous than the disease itself”.
“The poor, especially the daily wage earners, are the worst affected by these side effects and need immediate care. However, the other low income groups are not far behind,” said Badal adding that the middle classes were now beginning to find these side effects hard to cope with.
Badal said that the war on coronvirus needs to be fought with the same spirit as was seen during India’s struggle for freedom “as the challenge has the same gravity for every citizen”.
Describing hunger and poverty, plus unemployment and economic slowdown as three immediate, mid-term and long-term side effects of the pandemic, Badal called for a “graded strategy to fight all three”.
Welcoming ‘the gradual exit strategies’ announced, Badal appealed to the people, especially the farmers, farm labour and workers in other fields, to be extra-careful and “fully respect and obey the guidelines issued by the government”.
Badal, saying that lockdown was the only option available to the Government, said that “six weeks is a long time for the poor to survive without income, and more particularly, without regular supply of food at their door”.
“Governments must provide safe modes of travel to the migrants and others to go back to their homes, especially if the lockdown is to be extended further,” said Badal describing “containing and fighting unemployment” as the urgent long-term necessity.
Badal also emphasized the need for ensuring hassle free harvesting and procurement of the wheat crop saying that the governments must ensure that no one connected with these operations is harassed.
He urged the Centre to give a “significant bonus on wheat, in addition, the government must think of subsiding agricultural inputs in a major way”