NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the ongoing national lockdown is in no way a solution to COVID 19 and aggressive testing was the country’s main weapon to fight the disease.
In his first virtual press conference from AICC headquarters, Gandhi said with lockdown India had pressed the pause button and when the lockdown ends the virus will start its work again.
“In no way does a lockdown defeat the disease. The lockdown just stops the disease for some time. The biggest weapon against COVID is testing to know where the virus is moving. Currently we are chasing the virus. Unless we do random testing the virus will keep getting ahead of us,” Gandhi said.
He called for aggressive push to testing and for the government to use ransom test results strategically to designate hotspots.
“What has happened has happened. Let’s now scale up testing and pre-empt the virus to know where it is going,” Gandhi suggested.
The former Congress chief also cautioned the government against declaring victory in the COVID war too soon.
“Premature declaration of victory would be fatal. The fight has just started. Declaring victory today would be a very wrong thing to do,” Gandhi said when asked for comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks that India was better placed than many countries on the COVID battle having taken proactive and pre-emptive steps.
The Congress leader in oblique references to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster and some communities fearing cooperation in the COVID surveillance efforts said, “India can only fight this disease with unity. Testing won’t harm anyone. It will only help track the virus and its path. If we get divided we will lose this fight.”
Gandhi offered Congress cooperation to the PM in the matter and said he may have differences with the PM but he is solidly with the PM in the battle against COVID.
Gandhi said he would have liked more decentralisation of funding to states and more conversation between the PM and states on lockdown demanding an immediate minimum financial net, food security for the poor and migrants and a protective package for medium and small industries that employ 40 per cent of people.
Gandhi warned against social unrest if the government didn’t move quickly to address the migrant crisis.
“Government needs to act quickly. If it doesn’t act now on the migrant front soon there will be social unrest. Government needs to be compassionate,” he said asking for 10 kg wheat and rice each and a kg each of sugar and pulses for the poor including those without ration cards.
The Wayanad MP on many occasions stressed the greatness of India to say that India will emerge victorious against the disease.
While he flagged concerns around a crisis bruising around food and employment, Gandhi said everyone had to work together to battle the disease.
“We have to see this disease not from the prism of fear but from the prism of confidence. India has overdone bigger challenges in the past and India will win again. There is nothing to fear. We will come out at a better place in the world once this fight is over,” he said exuding hope.