We have to fight pandemic as one nation: Sitaram Yechury  

Opening up on a whole lot of issues related to the unprecedented 21-day lockdown, veteran Left leader and General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury said India has to fight this pandemic as one nation.

"This is India's battle against the deadly virus... To be fought by all the Indians together. You cannot leave one section out, and think that you are safe, you are not," Yechury told IANS.

Referring to the Tablighi Jamaat controversy, Yechury said: "Who allowed these people to come from Malaysia and Indonesia into India? Were they tested (at the airport) or not? These are the issues for which they (government) have to be accountable. But let's now focus on the pandemic."

When asked about the trail of incidents wherein MLAs and MPs of the ruling party celebrated a birthday bash or roughed up government officials during the continuing countrywide lockdown, the CPM leader said: "It's a mockery of the lockdown, and strict action should be taken against these people. But nothing has been done so far. On the other hand, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a reward of Rs 5,000 on giving information about Jamaatis (who are missing). But what about the public events held by the BJP? For example, the BJP organised a swearing in ceremony in Bhopal. Similarly, an event was organised in Ayodhya... where thousands of people gathered. The yardstick has to be the same, we cannot have different views on such events."

The long drawn lockdown which has left migrant and the daily waged workers in utter distress, also worries the Left wing opposition leader.

"We are in the midst of a very grim battle against the pandemic. There are serious issues of livelihood, shortage of food and hunger. These problems need to be solved on an urgent basis. The government has stock of 7.5 crore metric tonnes of food grain in the FCI godowns. This stock should be immediately despatched to the states to be distributed among the poor. Prime Minister had promised to transfer Rs 5,000 to each Jan Dhan account and all the BPL accounts, but that has not happened. That has to be done for the survival of the poor," said Yechury, an alumni of the Jawaharlal Nehru University known for his deep understanding of India's socio-economic issues.

On the economic front, particularly on the problems faced by millions of employees in the private sector, Yechury said that retrenchments and salary cuts are happening and making life difficult in the urban areas.

"The Prime Minister had assured that there will be no cut in the salaries for three months but that is not happening. The government has to protect the employers and assure them of a monetary compensation to make this happen. Similarly, in rural areas, harvesting is going on but several grain markets are closed. Farmers are clueless about who will buy their yield lying in the field? Who will pay for it? These questions need to be answered as early as possible," the top Left leader said.

The ongoing testing for COVID-19 seems to be bothering the Opposition, particularly the Left parties. The methodology or protocol for testing is not an issue for them but the scale of testing is certainly a matter of concern.

"Why do countries go for a lockdown...what is the logic behind it? Actually when countries opt for a lockdown they utilise this crucial time in conducting widespread testing to gauge the scale and spread of the pandemic. They identify the clusters and isolate those clusters, and later they slowly withdraw the lockdown. This is what every country is doing. But in our country the scale of testing is abysmal. As of now, our rate of testing is 102 per million. It is lower than Pakistan - 191 per million. Hong Kong tests 14,000 per million, South Korea 13,000 per million and Singapore 11,000 per million). So we have to step up the testing drive. If we do not expand this exercise then we will not be able to identify clusters and isolate them. If we do not do it effectively then how we will contain this disease, which spreads at a very fast pace. So immediately we have to speed up testing at large scale. It is vital in containing this pandemic," Yechury, known for substance and reasoning in his widely acclaimed speeches, told IANS.

The frontline warriors of this war against the virus, the lakhs of nurses and the support staff in the hospitals also caught Yechury's attention.

"Yes, I am concerned about them. Everyone one should be concerned for them... as they risk their health in fighting this battle. So, the question is are we protecting our health workers properly? To secure their health, we require five lakh Personal Protection Equipments (PPE) every day. As of now, we are producing 12,000 PPEs per day. The first COVID-19 case was reported in India on January 30. Till February 28, we were exporting PPEs. These lapses are grave and would be questioned later on. But right now we have to accelerate production of PPEs at a war footing," said the CPM chief.

The veteran Left leader was of the view that the financial condition of several states is not good. In the ongoing war against the pandemic, the states desperately need money. They have already been deprived of GST funds.

"So the government should immediately transfer adequate funds to the state in this hour of crisis," Yechury said adding: "Last but not least, the issue of Tablighis, though being very irresponsible on their part, should not be communalised. In a grim situation like this, targeting an entire community would be counter productive. This will weaken our united fight against the coronavirus, so this must be put to an end now. I will reiterate... let's fight this war unitedly... Let's be united and defeat the virus."