Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has called upon the State government to set up what he called a ‘COVID-19 relief commission’ to look into all aspects of the revival of economic and social life in the wake of the devastation caused by the pandemic.
He said the commission should consist of experts from different walks of life, who would suggest ways to overcome the crisis. Mr. Satheesan was speaking at the Ernakulam Press Club on ‘Life after COVID 19’.
He said there was serious economic deceleration, and that the government needed to increase the spending capacity of people. One of the options would be, he said, to transfer funds directly to ordinary people. Transferring a corpus of around ₹10,000 crore to people who are hard-pressed by the pandemic will result in circulation of money and bring around ₹1,800 crore to the State exchequer in the form of taxes, he said.
He pointed out that direct benefit transfer programmes like the national employment scheme had benefited lakhs of workers in the country. He also said that the rehabilitation packages announced by the State government had not been substantial.
Mr. Satheesan said combining the opening up of the market with restrictions would not work. He claimed that 57% of the population in Kerala had not even received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and insisting on certificates for shopping was not constructive. The government must open up shopping hours, so that crowding could be avoided in public spaces. Countries have explored options like exploring night shopping to control crowding, he added. He said the pandemic should be treated as a health problem and not a political problem.
Mr. Satheesan, commenting on the troubles confronting the Indian Union Muslim League, said the party’s problems were internal, and that the UDF or the Congress did not want to interfere in the matter.
