The interim president of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi, has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the steps taken amid the Corona virus crisis. Sonia Gandhi has written a compliment to PM Modi, in the letter, Sonia Gandhi supported the decision of the Union Cabinet, in which it has been decided to reduce the salary of MPs by 30 percent. Sonia Gandhi wrote in the letter, "This is a commendable step. The use of this money is very necessary for the fight against Covid-19. It is the need of the hour."
Sonia Gandhi wrote in the beginning of the letter, "In a telephonic conversation yesterday, you had requested the Congress Party's suggestion to fight Covid-19. I am writing this letter in this spirit, I wish you good health in this challenging time. "The interim president of Congress has given 5 suggestions to the Prime Minister to fight Covid-19 and avoid extravagance.
First, the government and government undertakings prohibited media advertisements – television, print and online advertisements for two years to invest in fighting the crisis arising from the corona virus. Only advertisements related to Covid-19 advisory or health should be excluded from this ban. About 1,250 crore every year on central government media advertisements. Spends, apart from this, the annual amount spent by government undertakings and government companies on advertisements is even more. This effort of the government will help in raising a huge amount to compensate for the damage caused to the economy and society by the corona virus.
Second, 'Central Vista' beautification and construction project being built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore. In the current situation, this expenditure on luxury is meaningless. I am confident that Parliament can do its entire business from the existing building itself. The construction of new Parliament and its new offices is not needed in today's emergency. In times of such crisis this expense can be avoided. The money saved from this should be used for construction of new hospitals and diagnostic facilities and for providing Personal Protection Equipment ('PPE') and better facilities to the health workers working in the front line.
Thirdly, the budget of expenditure of the Government of India (excluding salary, pension and central sector schemes) should also be cut by 30 percent in the same proportion. This 30 percent amount (about 2.5 lakh crore per annum) should be allocated to provide security cycle to migrant laborers, laborers, farmers, MSMEs and those working in the unorganized sector.
Fourth, all foreign visits by the President, Prime Minister, and Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, Ministers of State and bureaucrats should be postponed. The Prime Minister should only allow emergency and much-needed foreign visits for the national interest. This amount spent on foreign trips (which is 393 crore rupees for foreign travel of Prime Minister and Union Ministers only in the last five years) can be used meaningfully in the fight against corona virus.
Fifth, the entire amount of the 'PM Cares' fund should be transferred to the 'Prime Minister's National Relief Fund' ('PM-NRF'). This will ensure efficiency, transparency, responsibility and audit in allocation and expenditure of this amount. Creating two separate items for disbursing funds to serve the public is a waste of hard work and resources. About 3800 crores in PM-NRF, the amount (till the end of FY 2019) is lying unused. This fund and the amount of 'PM-Cares', combined and utilized, should provide immediate food security cycle to the marginalized people in the society.
At the end of the letter, Sonia has written, "Our full support is with you in addressing the challenges of Covid-19, which have arisen in front of the country."
