Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram has slammed the central government for the plight of the migrants.
Chidambaram, citing news reports, tweeted that nearly 89 per cent people have zero weekly income during the lockdown.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
“University of Chicago and University of British Columbia research find weekly income of 89.2 per cent is down to zero,” he said.
The former finance minister said migrants in search of jobs come to cities, now their livelihood a huge concern as they go back.
He said people are walking to their homes in distress and many say that they want to reach home as there is no way to feed themselves in cities.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Chidambaram said that Azim Premji and Venu Srinivasan support cash transfer of Rs 5000/7000 a month to each poor household and migrant worker for at least 3 months.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a statement on Saturday, advocated again for direct cash transfer.
He had said, “52 days have passed since India was put under lockdown. On one hand, the Nation is fighting Covid-19 and on the other, our farmers, migrant labourers, shopkeepers, salaried classes and small & medium industries i.e. MSMEs are facing an unprecedented economic crisis.”
“Extend ‘Income Support’ to at least 13 crore poorest households. Transfer Rs 7,500 preferably to each household. Even if Rs 5,000 is transferred to each of the 13 crore households, it will amount to a total of only Rs 65,000 crore, which we can afford,” he had added.