TN govt not doing enough to ease people\'s distress during covid: Stalin

The Tamil Nadu government had failed to help the people by extending concessions and providing relief in these times of Coronavirus crisis in the manner in which a democratic State was expected to do, DMK President M K Stalin alleged.

The people were now in, what medical experts termed as, the ‘golden period’, in which every minute mattered, and hence the government should at least make use of the remaining days and prevent the people from slipping into distress, Stalin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Urging the government to save the people from the present crisis and rescue them from the livelihood disaster they were facing, he accused the government of denying concessions like extending the time limit for paying electricity bills but only adding to their burden by increasing the price of petrol and diesel.

The Central and State governments that believed in the lockdown being the only way of controlling the spread of Coronavirus, however, did not address the problems of the people who lost their livelihood because of that, he said.

While the three-month lockdown had left daily wage earners without jobs, traders with no business, labourers without salary or income, the government was not concerned about the general loss of livelihood, Stalin said, adding that it had not taken his demand for a monthly payment of Rs 5000 to every family seriously.

He had also urged the government to provide essential items to the people at their doorstep so that they did not stir out of their homes, which too was ignored by, he said, adding that even the latest payment of Rs 1000 cash relief was not done properly.

Instead of distributing the cash at the homes of ration card holders, the people were either asked to go over to the ration shops or to a particular point in the street, where overcrowding and lack of social distancing had only increased the risk of virus spread.  

Stalin also pointed out that the trend of people migrating to other places in droves from Chennai was not due the fear of virus infection alone but also because of lack of livelihood opportunities provided by the State. The government failed to give the people hope, he said adding that it was the responsibility of the Chief Minister to protect the people.

Painting a gloomy picture of the Covid-19 situation, he said new infections had risen to around 2000 daily and deaths to about 50 and virus spread had gone out of Chennai and reached other districts, too.