Congress Forms District-level Task Force to Fight against COVID-19- J R Lobo
Mangaluru: The District Congress Committee has formed a task force with the support of all the leaders and party workers to tackle the present COVID-19 Pandemic in the district. All of us should join hands with the government to face this challenge. Congress being the opposition party cannot rule the country but we can give valuable suggestions to the ruling party whenever they need and can also monitor and remind them to fulfill the promises made during this critical time”, said former MLA J R Lobo in a press meet held at the DCC office Mallikatta here on April 4.
Addressing the media persons J R Lobo said, “The party leaders have started to help the people according to their capacity. We have formed 8 subcommittees for documentation purposes, earlier the work we did was not documented. The task force will help the ruling party and also give valuable suggestions to face the pandemic.”
J R Lobo further said, “The government should keep its promise. Shifting the market from Hampankatta to APMC is a wrong decision that was taken suddenly at this critical time. Why was it necessary to take an emergency decision now? The administration should inform the wholesale merchants about the decision of shifting the market at least before 10 days. Now is not the time to decide on shifting the market. When there is a lockdown, the administration should have called the merchants and taken the feedback from them. The ruling party is not taking any suggestions from the opposition. Vehicles have also been banned on the road till April 14. Instead of banning private vehicles, give people 3 to four hours for shopping essential items. Some shops have shut the doors since the lockdown because of confusion or difficulty in getting supplies. During this critical time, if some of the shops do not provide service, they should be permanently closed and their license canceled.”
DCC President Harish Kumar said, “The BJP government has announced of providing ration for 2 months. But when the Congress was in power people used to get 7 kg rice per person in a family which the BJP government has reduced to 5 kgs. I request the government to provide each person 14 kg of rice instead of 10 kgs. The government promised to provide wheat but so far it has not been distributed. I urge the government to provide 14 kgs rice, dal, oil and wheat to the cardholders. This is a critical time and people don’t have money to buy essentials items, it is the duty of the government to provide the basic commodities”.
MLC Ivan D’Souza said, “The state government announced lockdown for 14 days and assured the people of delivering essentials supplies, but so far it has not reached the people. BJP is fooling the people with assurances. They had even promised of distributing the Modi kit which so far has not reached any house. The government announced that people did not have to pay the EMI to the banks, but the banks have deducted the EMI from the account. Migrants sheltered in government hostels were served stale food which we had witnessed when we visited the hostels. We have strictly informed them to provide food prepared in the hostels. The COVID-19 testing lab is not yet started in Mangaluru. The Dialysis patients from Wenlock have been shifted to other hospitals but only BPL cardholders are getting free treatment there. Those who were admitted to the Wenlock hospital with APL card should also be treated free of cost, because of the financial problems they had got admitted to the government Wenlock hospital. In Bunder fishing is not allowed but the fish comes from Gujarat, Goa, and Madras.”