Purpose of 21-day lockdown won’t be served if India doesn’t ramp up testing: CPM chief Sitaram Yechury

NEW DELHI: The purpose of imposing a 21-day lockdown has not been met, CPM chief Sitaram Yechury said on Friday emphasising that the Modi government should have used the time to ramp up India’s testing capabilities and to arrange medial equipment necessary for frontline health workers to meet the coronavirus challenge.
Reiterating his charge that mere symbolic acts of lighting lamps and beating pots and pans would not help India fight a pandemic, Yechury said, “We are into the third week of lockdown and extensive testing is still not being done.Merely extending the lockdown will increase the economic misery of people. That should not be allowed to happen. The spread has to be contained through identifying, isolating and sealing areas. That is why it has to be phased withdrawal," Yechury said.
The CPM chief also said the Union government announcing a Rs 15,000 crore package for the entire country was entirely inadequate especially when a state like Kerala alone had allocated Rs 20,000 crore to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
"Where are the thousands of rupees which the PM has collected under a new fund. Hasn't the government written off Rs 7.78 lakh crore your super rich owed? But at the same time, you are not willing for a one-time loan waiver of our farmers. The question is of will. If the will is there, the resources are there. If the 112 billionaires in India can contribute 1% if their wealth, there will be no dearth of resources,” Yechury said.
He was also critical of the Tablighi Jamaat for its irresponsible act of congregating despite advisories to the contrary, but asked who allowed their meeting to happen and warned against the perils of communalising disease. "Unfortunately, those who are with them (government) and supporting them are the prime movers of fake news. But Tablighi Jamaat's irresponsible behaviour should not be an excuse to target a community. Fake news undermines the unity that we need at this point of time," the CPM chief said.