Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that the “unplanned” lockdown continued to haunt the country and lakhs of people continued to go through “indescribable pain” because of the government of India’s “incompetence”.
On March 24, 2020, the Centre had initially imposed a complete lockdown for three weeks to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“The unplanned lockdown disaster continues to haunt the country. Condolences to the lakhs of families being punished with indescribable pain for GOI’s incompetence and myopia,” Mr. Gandhi said on Twitter.
He also tagged a media report quoting a UNICEF study that claimed India was likely to see the highest rise in child mortality and maternal deaths among the six most populous South Asian countries because of the pandemic.
For the past one year, Mr. Gandhi has been questioning the Narendra Modi government’s handling of COVID-19, including its impact on the economy and on livelihoods. The Congress party and its leaders have been demanding direct transfer of cash to help the poorest families who are at the bottom of the pyramid.
