The government needs humility to work with states to fight Covid-19, says Derek O’Brien.
New Delhi:
Attacking the government over the coronavirus crisis during a discussion in parliament, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien today mocked the PM-CARES fund as “I don’t care about the PM fund” and said the center “needs humility” to work. state.
“This government needs humility to work with states in the fight against Covid-19. The pandemic should not be used to turn democracy into an autocracy,” said the Trinamool member in the Rajya Sabha, during a discussion on the pandemic of Covid.
O’Brien said the government had announced a 21-day shutdown just four hours in advance and “without preparation.” It also alleged that the center did not trust state governments when making decisions about the virus outbreak.
At one point, he joked: “The most opaque and dark fund in the world. It’s called the Prime Minister’s Fund that I don’t care about” and then added: “Oh, I misspelled the name, okay!”
PM-CARES or the Prime Minister’s Citizen Aid and Assistance Fund in Emergencies was created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March to “deal with emergency or distress situations such as the coronavirus pandemic.” It is managed by a trust with PM Modi as chairman and senior members of the cabinet as trustees.
The opposition has repeatedly demanded an audit of the fund, saying it lacks accountability and transparency.
O’Brien also criticized the statement of the Union Health Minister in parliament yesterday.
Minister Harsh Vardhan, thanking Prime Minister Modi, said that the national lockdown, community engagement and other measures prevented up to 38,000 deaths and 29 lakhs of COVID-19 cases in the country. He also said that government efforts have been able to limit the number of coronavirus to 3,328 cases and 55 deaths per million inhabitants, which is one of the lowest in the world.
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