Former Prime Minister of India, HD Deve Gowda, on Friday, claimed that the lockdown decision was a ‘hurried’ one and not much thought was given into how the working class and farmers would cope with it. HDD also suggested a few measures to bring down the brunt of the impact that the lockdown has already brought.
HDD’s letter to BSY
In a letter written to the Chief Minister of the State BS Yediyurappa, the ex-PM said that consultation must have been done with experienced citizens, senior officials, and a few members from the farmer community before imposing the lockdown. In a letter dated April 9th, HDD also mentioned that 61% of the State’s population depended on agriculture as the means of livelihood.
Deve Gowda said:
“The lockdown implemented to control the spread of coronavirus has led our farmers into despair and put their lives into the burning fire. This lockdown looks like a decision taken at haste without proper thinking and forethought for our farmers, agriculture laborers, and daily wage workers.“
Suggestions made by the veteran leader
Deve Gowda questioned the authorities as to why they were quiet for 2 months after the first infection of the virus was reported in the country on January 30th. Along with this, HDD also gave a few suggestions to the government on ways to mitigate the impact.
The veteran leader said that horticulture produce could be procured directly from the villages, just like how milk is purchased right now. He stressed that since horticulture produce was perishable, all related activities must be given relaxation at this point. He also called for relaxation on exports of the horticultural produce.
This way, HDD opined, farmers could survive until the end of the lockdown.
