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In her letter, Priyanka made five points to ease the pains of the people during the pandemic. (File) In a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government was unprepared for the Covid-19 second wave and was caught unawares. She also proposed steps that the government can take to provide relief to people.
Gandhi told Adityanath that his government should have taken steps for people’s welfare instead of leaving them in the lurch during the crisis. The havoc the state faced in April and May had made it clear that the government had done no planning at all, causing people to face unbearable pain, the Congress leader added.
Gandhi offered five-point advice to the chief minister to help everyone during the current crisis. In the two-page letter written in Hindi, she said, “Because of the lackadaisical preparations to establish a system, the public had to face unbearable pain. The havoc in April and May has made it clear that there was no planning by the government.”
She claimed many unnecessary rules were introduced and red-tapism increased problems for people. This caused loss of lives and livelihoods. Inflation too severely affected the middle class, Gandhi added.
“In these difficult time rather than leaving people, who earn their living with hardships and honesty, your government should come forward to take steps for the welfare of people,” read the letter.
Gandhi advised the state government to come up with a policy that has “karuna, hamdardi [kindness and empathy] and “madad ka sparsh [touch of help]”. She asked the state administration to curb arbitrary charging of patients by some private hospitals. Among the Congress leader’s other proposals were: the appointment of a government representative to monitor each hospital and fix prices so hospitals do not suffer financial losses and people are not harassed, keeping a check on price rise of essential items, and not hiking electricity rates further.
Gandhi urged the government to also hold discussions with representatives of schools and parents to find a middle ground on the payment of fees at a time schools are not open. Despite remaining closed, schools have to pay salaries to teachers, the Congress leader noted.
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