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Covid-19: Chidambaram urges chief ministers to make a ‘unanimous demand’, ask Centre to ‘remonetise the poor’

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Former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday took to Twitter and urged various chief ministers to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the “livelihood of the poor” is equally important amid this coronavirus crisis.

“Chief Ministers – @capt_amarinder @ashokgehlot51 @bhupeshbaghel @VNarayanasami @uddhavthackeray @EPSTamilNadu should tell the Prime Minister today that just as LIVES are important LIVELIHOOD of the poor is important,” Chidambaram tweeted out.

He said that the government must work for the cause of the poor as well while the country fights the coronavirus menace. Chidambaram said that poor are hit due to the Covid-19 crisis and have lost their jobs amid the lockdown.

“The poor have lost their jobs or self-employment in the last 18 days. They have exhausted their meagre savings. Many are standing in line for food. Can the State stand by and watch them go hungry?” Chidambaram posted.

He asked the chief ministers to demand for the immediate transfer of cash to the families of the poor.

“CMs should demand that cash be transferred to every poor family immediately. ‘Remonetise the poor’ should be their unanimous demand,” Chidambaram said.

This comes on a day when PM Modi is set to hold another round of video conference with all chief ministers today to discuss the coronavirus crisis in the country. A decision on lockdown extension is likely to come after the meeting.

So far, Punjab and Odisha have already extended the lockdown till April 30. India entered the 18th day of the 21-day coronavirus lockdown on Saturday which will come to an end on April 14 if not extended.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has updated the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 7,447. The figure includes 6,565 active cases, 239 deaths and around 642 people who have recovered from the virus.

HT

 

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