[Marxistindia] PB Reaction to Lockdown

[news from the cpi(m)]

April 14, 2020



The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued  
the following statement:

Extended Lockdown: Poor & Marginalised Will Continue to Suffer

The people of the country who implemented the three week long lockdown  
ending today were looking forward to concrete measures that the  
government will undertake to resolve the problems that arose during  
these three weeks and provide the much needed relief for a large  
number of our poor, marginalised and migrant labour.

The Prime Minister listed seven tasks that the people should implement  
during the extended lockdown. However, he did not spell out concretely  
what the government will do.

The experience of the three week lockdown has shown the large scale  
spread of hunger and inadequate shelter for a significant section of  
our people. It is imperative that the government must immediately  
implement a Rs. 7500 ex-gratia cash transfer to all non-Income Tax  
paying families and resort to universal distribution of free  
foodgrains to all needy people. The Central Government must ensure  
that no starvation deaths occur.

The financial package of Rs. 1.7 lakh crore announced so far is very  
meagre. It amounts to less than 1 per cent of the country’s GDP. Many  
countries in the world have announced substantially higher financial  
packages to meet the consequences of this pandemic. India should raise  
this to at least 5 per cent of its GDP. Even the cash transfers to  
various sections announced by the FM have not materialised.

The states are in the frontline of the battle against the Covid  
pandemic. They need to be financially assisted. Central funds should  
be liberally distributed among the states so that proper facilities  
can be provided in the relief camps and food for crores of people  
staying there.The limit for borrowings by the states must be enhanced.

The PM has appealed that no worker should be retrenched. But mere  
appeals are not sufficient as there are reports of large scale job  
loses across the board. Appropriate financial assistance must be  
provided to ensure a moratorium on job loss and wage cut for three  
months.

This is the harvesting season. The government must ensure compulsory  
procurement on the declared C2+50% support price. The report of no  
work under MNREGA are disturbing. All those registered must be paid  
their wages irrespective of work.

The lockdown period should have been utilised for conducting large  
scale testing to identify the clusters where the pandemic is spreading  
in order to isolate and contain. Testing, however, remains at a very  
low level, one of the lowest in the world.

It is a matter of grave concern that a large number of doctors and  
health workers are getting exposed to the pandemic because of severe  
shortages in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). These have not been  
substantially augmented during these three weeks. Both testing and PPE  
provisions must be undertaken on a war footing.

It is most unfortunate that the Prime Minister did not decry some  
attempts that seek to sharpen social and communal polarisation. The  
government must ensure that such disruptive efforts do not occur. We  
can only win this battle against Covid-19 with complete unity amongst  
our people.

The Prime Minister said that the government will review the situation  
on April 20 and then take measures for some relaxation. Arrangements  
must be made to transport the migrant workers back to their homes.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon the Central Government to  
immediately address these issues and issue the necessary guidelines.



For CPI(M) Central Committee Office