Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge Writes To PM On Covid, Offers 6 Suggestions

India is scrambling to contain a second Covid wave that has seen it report over four lakh new cases for four straight days, and more than three lakh a day since April 22.

Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer six suggestions to help combat the second Covid wave, which he said had forced "ordinary Indians (into) selling land, jewellery and expending savings to ensure treatment for loved ones". Mr Kharge, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, urged the Prime Minister to adopt a "collective and consensual" approach, and said civil society and citizen groups were fighting an "extraordinary national battle" because the centre "seems to have abdicated its duties". In his letter Mr Kharge called on the centre to convene an all-party meeting to "collectively forge a holistic blueprint to tackle the pandemic" and utilise the Rs 35,000 crore allocated by the Union Budget for Covid vaccines to ensure all Indians are inoculated. He also asked the centre to "leverage compulsory licensing" to increase vaccine production, waive taxes on critical medical equipment -  vaccines (five per cent), PPE kits (between five and 12 per cent), ambulances (28 per cent) and oxygen concentrators (12 per cent).