Assam: Tarun Gogoi to Demand Economic Security for Working Classes at All-Party Meet on COVID-19

Dispur, April 11, 2020:

On March 12, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is planning to hold an all party meet that will feature suggestions from leaders across the political lines. Reacting to this announcement, Congress veteran Tarun Gogoi has said that he will raise various issues related to the economic downturn in the midst of the 21-day lockdown.

Reacting to this, 3-time former Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi has lauded the CM's decision and is expected to play a key role in the proceedings. He will also express his own opinions at the meeting, the Congress party has informed via a note.

Gogoi is hoping that the Assam Government will hold a meeting where the concerns of doctors, scientists, economic experts, industrialists, tea estate owners, small scale businessmen, labourers will be discussed and a new scheme will be formulated.

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Moreover, it is expected that the meeting will address both the curbing of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn that has plagued the nation.

Gogoi is expected to cite the steps taken by the Kerala Goverment that has adopted a model to both contain the spread of the virus and to keep the economy chugging along. Keralities, while adhering to the Government-prescribed social distancing norms, are also returning to work at the farms and tea estates, and this is something that Gogoi is expected to bring up.

Gogoi is also expected to bring up some issues ahead of the ensuing monsoon season, such as repairing the embankments in the flood-prone state.

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Earlier, on Friday, the former Chief Minister said that the current administration had been a “failure” in certain regards while addressing concerns of those suffering because of the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Gogoi, in a video transmission that was posted on social media, urged that the doctors and nurses be given protective Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits to safeguard them in their fight against the COVID-19.

The Congress leader’s demand has been made in the wake of allegations that there is a shortage of PPE kits in the country; as of now, India as 150 seam sealing machines which can produce 30,000 suits per day, while the actual need has been cited at producing 1 lakh suits per day.

“If they are to solve the — farming, animal husbandry, and others, they are a failure in taking care of these departments. They must come up with a scheme to ameliorate these problems”, Gogoi had said. The veteran Congress leader also urged the Government to initiate an “action-plan” in order to deal with the COVID-19 on a war footing.

It may be mentioned here that a total of 5734 confirmed cases have been reported in the country with 549 new cases and 17 fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 169.

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