[Marxistindia] Left Parties Statement

[news from the cpi(m)]

April 03, 2020

Press Statement

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India,  
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, Revolutionary  
Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc have issued the  
following statement:

Attend to People’s Concerns on a War-Footing

The country has entered the second week of the 21-day lockdown to  
contain the community spread of COVID-19 pandemic. 

Many problems have surfaced in a sharp manner which need to be  
resolved urgently. Many of these were anticipated but unfortunately no  
remedial action was taken before the announcement of the lockdown.

1. Crores of people have lost their sources of livelihood. The exodus  
of migrant workers from urban centres has shown the degree of  
unsettling of people’s livelihood that this sudden lockdown  
announcement caused. There is an urgent need to stop the growth of  
widespread hunger and malnutrition. The COVID-19 pandemic feeds on  
such conditions of the people. The promised Rs. 5000 to all Jandhan,  
BPL and unorganized workers must be transferred immediately. The  
central government must provide 35kgs per family to all migrant  
workers and poor, with or without ration cards, from the 7.5 crore of  
stock of food-grains, all across the country. Proper health care  
facilities for the migrant workers and others who have travelled from  
various parts must be put in place. Effective and hygienic quarantine  
facilities must be established in all parts of the country. Police  
brutalities on migrant workers must be put an end to and strict action  
must be taken against those who gave such orders.  

In all urban centres, particularly in the large conglomeration of  
urban slums, provision of food grains and essentials to the needy is  
urgently needed to prevent hunger, starvation and the community spread  
of COVID-19. 

This is the harvest season. The farmers need to be supported to ensure  
that the food crop is not wasted which is essential for our food  
security. Food Corporation of India must be directed to procure at MSP  
to prevent distress selling.

2. Much of this work will have to be undertaken in the states. The  
state governments are already facing severe financial crunch and would  
not be in a position to undertake these tasks. They must be liberally  
assisted financially by the Centre. Limit on States’ borrowing must be  
increased. On this depends the life and livelihood of crores of Indian  
people.

3. During the lockdown increasing reports are now appearing of growing  
shortages of essential commodities and medicines. There is no clarity  
on the movement of trucks carrying essential goods across the states.  
This must be set right immediately and all essential requirements of  
the people must be met.

4. There is a growing genuine complaint from the health workers who  
are courageously discharging their duties, of the lack of personal  
protective equipment and medicines. They must be provided immediately.  
 Equipments like Ventilators must be acquired urgently on priority.  
These must be augmented by the central government urgently.

People suffering from other life-threatening conditions cannot be  
neglected for treatment by the health facilities. Some reports have  
estimated that at least 43 such patients have died so far.

5. Large scale testing for COVID-19 should be undertaken during this  
period of lockdown to identify clusters where this pandemic is  
spreading, isolate those areas and treat the people properly. The ICMR  
has now approved a rapid testing kit. This must be deployed on a large  
scale across the country. Currently, India’s testing rate is one of  
the lowest in the world. It is 241 times lower than South Korea.

6. There is growing concern over the rabid communal campaigns being  
conducted after the Tablighi Jamaat congregation which was an act of  
gross  irresponsibility by the organisers. But to convert that into a  
campaign for communal polarisation only divides the united effort  
required by all Indians to battle this pandemic and defeat it.  
Effective steps must be taken to dispel stigma, generating empathy not  
criminalizing patients. Curb fake news and communicate scientific  
facts about the pandemic. The central government should urgently  
intervene to ensure that this fight against COVID-19 is a fight in  
which all of us are united and determined to defeat it.


Sd/-

Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
D Raja, General Secretary, Communist Party of India
Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary, Communist Party of India  
(Marxist-Leninist)- Liberation
Debabrata Biswas, General Secretary, All India Forward Bloc
Manoj Bhattarcharya, Revolutionary Socialist Party