Charting out several suggestions for the Centre, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Government needs to spell out a strategy to exit the national lockdown, immediately announce a financial package and implement a decentralised approach to deal with the socio-economic fallout of the covid-19 pandemic.
Rahul also stated the country needed not just a "strong PM" but also "strong Chief Ministers". The country would lose the coroanavirus fight if it was restricted only to the PM's Office, he said.
"If we keep this fight only in PMO, we will lose; PM must devolve power," the Congress leader said in a video interaction with the media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, had a style of working and that "may be effective" in other circumstances.
"It may work for him, but when the country is facing such an unprecedented crisis, we don't need just one strong PM... we need many, many strong leaders, strong CMs (Chief Ministers) and strong DMs (District Magistrates). We need a strong patriotic Indian leader at the panchayat level, district level, state level... we need to tackle the problem and finish it at a local level, not at the national level," he said.
"We have been 45 days in lockdown now and we are beginning to run in a little bit of problem. There is a very strong feeling that we need to, without any delay, get package for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), get money in the hand of poor Indians and have a strategy for migrants as well as start preparing for exit from lockdown," Rahul Gandhi said in video press conference.
His comments come at a time when states have been demanding a relief and stimulus package to mitigate the economic damage caused by the most stringent lockdown in the world. India is now in the third phase of the nationwide lockdown, which started on 25 March.
"The Government’s general style is to not engage with opposition and we have accepted that. We are doing what is our work. We feel four or five things are immediately needed including a financial package, we have made a clear framework for MSMEs and income support and suggesting 200 days of work under MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Scheme)," he said.
Rahul also said states, including those ruled by the BJP, face financial distress and need immediate central government intervention. He added that the pandemic requires a ‘psychological change’ among the citizens for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to take lead.
"We simply cannot continue without providing support to people who are suffering because of the lockdown. A lockdown brings a psychological change. It is not an on-off switch. Currently, the people are very scared of this disease, so we are going to have to make psychological changes in the minds of the people. The government, if it wants to open up, has to turn this fear into a sense of confidence," he added.
"We are in an emergency and idea of injecting a sum of Rs 7500 directly into hands of poor is critical," Rahul said in response to question from media.
As far as decentralisation is concerned, Rahul Gandhi said Modi needs to trust state chief ministers and they should be able to trust their subordinates. He added that the classification of zones (in green, orange and red) too should happen in consultation with chief minsters and district magistrates (DMs).
For example, the grading of red, orange and green had been done at the national level, but should have been done at the level of the DM as they have the most ground information, he said and advising the PM to talk to Chief Ministers more often, and as a colleague, not as a boss.
He also said massive transition was needed and coordination between the government and states, and the government and the people.
To a question about the state of migrants stranded by the lockdown, either forced to survive without jobs, shelter and food or walking hundreds of km with their families, Rahul said this was "not the time to criticise the Government" on the crisis.
"Our supply chain and the health system of red, orange and green is clashing. The migrants and the poor need money immediately. The MSME need money immediately, otherwise the lack of jobs will become a tsunami," said the Congress leader.
To another question on whether his conversations with Raghuram Rajan, Abhijit Banerjee and others were part of a bigger strategy, Rahul said: "I speak to a lot of people. A lot of conversations are interesting. I thought I would like to give a glimpse of these conversations to the people of India. There is no other strategy."
On the possibility of his comeback as president of the grand old party, the Gandhi scion ruled out returning as Congress president, a post he gave up last year after his party was pulverised in the national election.