Jammu: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla today as a part of his mass contact programme to get to know about grievances of various areas particularly urban poor’s and rural vulnerable sections of society in Gandhi Nagar constituency during lockdown continued distributing ration among the needy families in Sanjay Nagar, Preet Nagar, Nanak Nagar slums . Prominent among those who accompanied Bhalla include Narinder Singh, Sanjay Gupta Murli, Bansi Lal, Kulbhushan Sharma, Sonu Mengi, Ram Murti, GS Sudan Prince, Babli Madam, Pardeep kumar, Rajvinder Singh, Bittu Sethi, Sham Ji, Pawan Master and Manjeet Singh.
Speaking on the occasion, former Minister today reiterated Govt to urgently adopt measures to protect the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people to deal with COVID-19. The lockdown has already disproportionately hurt marginalized communities due to loss of livelihood and lack of food, shelter, health, and other basic needs. The government does have a responsibility to protect the health and well-being of the population, but some of these steps have left tens of thousands of out-of-work migrant workers stranded, with rail and bus services shut down. The blanket closing of state borders have caused disruption in the supply of essential goods, leading to inflation and fear of shortages. Thousands of homeless people are in need of protection. No doubt Indian government is facing an extraordinary challenge to protect over a billion densely packed people, but ramped-up efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in India need to include rights protections,” said Bhalla. “Authorities should recognize that malnourishment and untreated illness will exacerbate problems and should ensure that the most marginalized don’t bear an unfair burden from lack of essential supplies.
Bhalla demanded Govt to provide free food and cash transfers to the poor and vulnerable populations, and health insurance for healthcare workers, among other things. The government should ensure that those at heightened risk, including sanitation workers (safai karamcharis), community health staff (ASHA workers), early childhood caregivers (anganwadi workers), and people such as midday meal workers – often poorly paid public service officials – who are at the front lines during this crisis, are provided protective equipment, medical benefits, and timely wages. With more than 80 percent of India’s workforce employed in the informal sector, and one-third working as casual laborers, it is crucial that the authorities make use of maximum available resources to ensure the delivery of services.The government should take urgent steps to get stranded migrant workers to safety. State governments across the country should immediately set up shelters and community kitchens for those most at need, taking measures to ensure physical distancing.
The government should not use Aadhaar (identity card)-based biometric authentication for the distribution of free food grains to the poor. Even in normal circumstances, failure of Aadhar has led to denial of essential services and benefits. The government should pay pending wages for all work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and expand its scope to those now forced out of work. Rural laborers will not be able to work because of the lockdown and should be given wages during the crisis. Farming communities are facing losses during harvest season and the government needs to step up procurement to protect agricultural income and save the produce, Bhalla added.
The authorities should immediately order the police to act with restraint while enforcing the lockdown. Photos and videos show police beating people who are trying to get essential supplies. The authorities should take all necessary steps to ensure that everyone has access to food and medical care, and that the poor and marginalized are not mistreated or stigmatized,” Bhalla said. “The Indian government’s responsibility to protect its people from the outbreak should not come at the cost of human rights violations.”The only way we can come to normalcy is by all of us coming together. And we can do this by being a little smart, a little proactive, knowing our surroundings and as and when we get any symptoms inform your nearest medical authorities,” said Bhalla. The governments across various states in the country have recommended people to follow social distancing apart from ordering closures of schools, malls, cinema halls in their bid to avoid gatherings “It’s because we all want our kids to go to the school, we want to go to the malls and we all want to watch movies in the theatres,” said the Bhalla.
Former Minister also appreciated the efforts of the medical professionals across the world who has been putting their lives at risk while treating those infected with novel corona virus.”I appreciate the efforts of all the doctors and the medical staff across the world who have put their lives on risk while taking care of the people who have tested positive with corona virus,” said Bhalla.”Last, but not the least, my heart goes out for people who have lost their lives and their families. Take care, be safe,” he added.”Let’s stay strong and fight the COVID-19 outbreak by taking all precautionary measures. Stay safe, be vigilant and most importantly remember, prevention is better than cure.
Bhalla said COVID-19 had been characterised as a global pandemic, but at the same time it was deemed controllable, provided timely and appropriate public health measures were put in place. The pandemic, he said, had forced them “to think not in terms of nations and states, but as a collective”. The challenge at hand demanded sagacity, vision and synergy of actions, he added.The unprecedented challenge, therefore, warrants unprecedented response. We must recognise that the national and local responses remain the most critically important,” he said, adding that it is equally important to pursue evidence and science-based responses as stigmatisation and stereotyping was counter-productive.This is why it would be most valuable for all of us to share our perspectives,” he said.
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