India / Give ₹6k/month to poor people in states under lockdown: Adhir Ranjan to PM

New Delhi: Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging to provide Rs 6,000 per month to the poor in the states under lockdown. "This will not only mitigate the sufferings of the millions of poor but it is good economics as well because it will have a multiplier effect on the economy," he said.

"In view of the ongoing pandemic and the lockdowns, such people have been rendered unemployed, resulting in their incomes dwindling and them not being able to provide for and feed their family. Accordingly, such people are in a deplorable condition and are teeing abandoned, completely left-out and hopeless," he said in the letter. 

Along with the monthly wages, he also sought free food gains for the needy, which the Centre has already announced provisions for under the Food Security Act.

"The Congress President has suggested that the centre should provide free food grains to the needy and give Rs.6000/- per month to all the jobless people. In view of the above mentioned condition of the poor and downtrodden due to the ongoing pandemic, I shall request that at least to start with you may give a serious thought to the suggestion of the Congress President that the Central Government should resort to direct cash transfer of INR 6000 per month in the bank accounts of all the eligible poor people of the States under lockdown, including the State of West Bengal. 

Last week, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, accusing it of failing the people of the country amid the raging coronavirus pandemic.