Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri on Saturday urged the Centre to take action on a war-footing to overcome the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
In a statement issued in Chennai, he said the Central and State governments must handle the twin situation of controlling the pandemic on the one hand and providing relief to people whose livelihoods have been affected due to the lockdown.
Mr. Alagiri also pointed out in Friday’s conference call held by Congress president Sonia Gandhi with all State party chiefs, the key point highlighted was increasing the number of tests for novel Coronavirus. He also welcomed the Supreme Court verdict mandating government and private labs to offer COVID-19 medical tests free of cost.
Mr. Alagiri alleged that the Centre has shown bias in disbursing relief funds to the States and the measures have not been adequate. He urged the Centre to deposit ₹7,500 each in Jan Dhan accounts of people and also provide relief to unorganised workers for three months through direct transfers.
