Rahul Gandhi writes open letter to PM Modi seeking immediate action on COVID situation
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking immediate measures to flatten COVID-19 curve in the country. Rahul in his letter pointed out several aspects that make India prone to more and more cases every day and urged the PM to "do everything in your power to stop the needless suffering of people".
He took into account factors like population, size, and genetic diversity. He wrote, "The pandemic has demonstrated that our (India's) size, genetic diversity, and complexity make India fertile ground for the virus to rapidly mutate, transforming itself into a more contagious and dangerous form".
He blamed the Centre's vaccination strategy and held it responsible for the spread. "Your government's lack of clear and coherent Covid and vaccination strategy, as well as its hubris in declaring premature victory as the virus was exponentially spreading, has placed India in a highly dangerous position", he wrote.
He also highlighted India's responsibility in a globalised and interconnected world. He pointed towards the various threats of letting the virus spread uncontrollably and how it will not only affect the country but also the world.
Furthermore, Rahul called out on "GOI's failures making another lockdown almost inevitable" and asked the government to "prepare people for the possibility" of imposing restrictions.
Four points that Rahul highlighted as "urgent issues to be addressed without delay" in the letter:
- Scientifically tracking the virus and its mutations across the country using genome sequencing and disease patterns.
- Dynamically assessing the efficacy of all vaccines against new mutations
- Speeding up the vaccination process
- Being transparent and keeping people informed.
"The human cost of allowing this virus to continue its march unimpeded will cause more tragic consequences than any purely economic calculations", he wrote. He assured of Congress' support in the "fight against the ferocious pandemic".
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3.5 lakh daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
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