Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi wrote to PM Modi today (File)
New Delhi:
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the supply of 5 kg of free food grains by three months to each member of “priority households” and poor families affected by coronavirus blockage, including including the hundreds of thousands of migrants whose condition has deteriorated. titles of the last months.
In her letter, Ms. Gandhi highlighted the loss of livelihoods for millions of people from the weakest economic strata in society and said that “the rights to food must be expanded to cope with the crisis of the hunger faced by some of the most vulnerable people in the country. “
“Almost three months after the country has been subjected to a strict foreclosure, millions of people are at risk of falling into poverty. The negative impact on livelihoods has led to chronic food insecurity … The government must consider expanding the supply of free food grains for a further three months, from July to September 2020, “wrote Gandhi.
In May, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that millions of people will receive free food grains for the next two months. The millions, she said, would include migrants who are not currently covered by the central food security plan or who hold state ration cards.
They will receive 5 kg of grain per person and 1 kg of chana (gram) per family, she said.
In her letter on Monday evening, Ms. Gandhi asked for it to be extended until September and also wrote: “… since a significant number of poor households continue to be excluded from the PDS, ration cards must be issued to all of these households. “
“Several states have asked for the same thing,” she wrote.
President of Congress Smt. Sonia Gandhi writes to the Prime Minister urging the government to extend the supply of free food grains for a period of three months until September 2020. pic.twitter.com/t8es8gcDZ4
– Congress (@INCIndia) June 22, 2020
The supply of free food grains per person was made during the second tranche of announcements on the 20-lakh rupee crore package released by the government for those hardest hit by the coronavirus epidemic and the weeks of foreclosure.
Migrant workers, including hundreds of thousands of thousands of people who were left without money, homeless or unemployed due to the brutal closure in March, were among the most affected.
With almost impossible survival in cities and urban centers and closed public transport, a mass exodus was observed as they walked and traveled hundreds of kilometers on foot. As the lakhs headed for hometowns and villages, possibly assisted by special trains from the center, state governments were left with the challenge of feeding them.
India continues to be subject to national foreclosure to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Described as the strictest lock in the world, the current phase ends on June 30.
There are more than 4.25 lakh of confirmed cases with 13,699 virus-related deaths.
