Skip to main content

COVID-19: Top TU demands Rs 5 lakh crore package, as marginalised 'left in lurch'

Counterview Desk
One of India’s top trade union organizations, All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), in a statement, has taken strong exception to a “meagre” allocation of Rs 15,000 crore to fight the deadly coronavirus, has said that little is being done to help the marginalized sections of society, especially daily wagers, migrants, agriculture workers and self-employed persons like hawkers-vendors, porters, loaders, domestic workers etc. who are “losing their livelihood in the lockdown.”
Signed by AITUC secretary Amarjeet Kaur, the statement demands a package of Rs 5 lakh crore, pointing out that even a small state like Kerala has announced a package of Rs 20,000 crore.

Text:

We at the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) while take the lockdown as necessary step as a preventive measure to stop spread of Covid-19 infection, are extremely disappointed at very meager amount of Rs 15,000 crore allocated by the Prime Minister in his address to the nation on March 24, whereas for small state like Kerala government announced Rs 20,000 crore package.
The dire need of the country is for testing and provision of all out medical help to all those infected cases. A war like preparation is needed for provision of ventilators, masks, increased bed capacity, availability of medicines, maintenance of hygiene etc.
The front soldiers in the case of medical help are our doctors, nurses, other para-medical staff and cleaning staff etc. who need to be taken care of. But it is they who are being neglected and not fully equipped as the requests and complaints from them including from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Resident Doctors Association are all in open for all to see.
We deplore that the government of India allowed export of all these required equipment in fighting Covid-19 till March 19, 2020 despite World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to stop it in the beginning of February itself.
The harassment of doctors, nurses etc to vacate residential premises is most shameful act which must be taken cognizance of by the concerned authorities and the guilty be booked to give clear signal to the society. The shameful instances of harassment of those working in airlines including air India staff which brought stranded Indians from abroad have also come to light.
Workers and employees of permitted essential services are not being allowed to commute to the work places by police in many areas
The workers and employees of the permitted essential services by the government are not being allowed to commute to the work places by police in many areas despite they have ID proofs provided by the government departments and public sector offices.
The poor masses, who are daily wagers / casual/ migrant/ agriculture workers or are self-employees as hawkers-vendors, those who are coolies/porters/loaders unloaders, domestic workers etc. are losing their livelihood in the lockdown/ curfew situation have been left in lurch for nothing to bank upon. They need immediate financial relief, free ration and free fuel to cook food. In many a cases for destitute food should be provided from government-run outlets.
This requires big economic package from the government. The clean drinking water and otherwise water needs for washing hands and bodies, the needs of hygiene and sanitation are very essential and especially in this pandemic situation.
The Finance Minister was only busy in announcing increase in deadlines for filing Income Tax (IT) returns, Goods and Services Tax (GST), about Tax Deducted as Source (TDS) or the cases under bankruptcy act etc. but no announcement for the 40 crore out of about 54 crore of working people who are looking towards the incumbent government for help.
We demand from the Modi government to immediately come out with clear policy and package to deal with all these issues at the earliest otherwise anxieties of no work and no food amongst masses will create problems in dealing with Covid 19 pandemic. The government has to immediately increase the financial package for health to tackle emergent needs of medical fraternity and the expansion of health infrastructure.
AITUC demands of Rs 500,000 crore package from the Central government to meet this calamity.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.