Narendra Modi Government has abdicated its fundamental responsibilities and duties towards the people instead of alleviating their suffering and pain at the time of a pandemic, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here on Friday addressing a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Party. She demanded that the meetings of Parliamentary Standing Committees must be convened urgently to take a stock of the situation.
She said India is in the grip of a deadly health disaster and millions are scrambling to access basic healthcare, life-saving medicines, oxygen, and vaccines. “It is heartbreaking to see people battling for their lives in hospitals, on roads, waiting in vehicles, far too many for want of any medical help at all,” she said and urged her party’s workers to dedicate their services to people.
Modi govt failed people
She alleged that the system has failed to help people. “Let us be absolutely clear — the system hasn’t failed. The Modi government has been unable to constructively channelise India’s strengths and resources. I say this categorically - India is crippled by a political leadership today that has no empathy for the people. The Modi Government has failed the people of our country,” she said in her address to the MPs.
The UPA chairperson said the Modi Government ignored expert advice and refused to strengthen the supply-chains for oxygen, medicine, and ventilators. “It failed to place sufficient orders for vaccines in time to meet the needs of our people. Instead, it consciously chose to allocate thousands of crores for non-essential projects that have nothing to do with the peoples’ well-being,” she said.
She added that the BJP-run governments, instead of helping desperate patients, have been using the State’s repressive power to arrest people merely for crying out for help. “They are cracking down on citizen groups who are trying their best to help. They are also compelling social media platforms and the media to obfuscate the truth and ignore the pleas of desperate citizens,” she added.
The Congress chief also demanded that standing committees must be convened to ensure collective action and accountability to combat the pandemic better. She said the Congress Working Committee is meeting shortly to review the Assembly results and added that the party must draw the appropriate lessons from the electoral setback in a spirit of humility and honesty.