Priyanka Vadra pens letter to UP CM Yogi amid Covid crisis; demands increased testing

Penning a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, state's Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has on Friday demanded better testing and screening facilities. Uttar Pradesh has so far reported 410 cases, while 31 have been cured, 4 have died. 

In her letter, Vadra has emphasized the following points and has also highlighted that Coornavirus does not diffrentiate between caste, gender or religion.

• Increase the number of testing and screening facility. 
• Ensure better facilities at quarantine centres  and test and cure more people at 'Mild to Moderate High-Risk Cases'
• Some clusters are fearing and hiding the travel details and symptoms. It is important to spread information and keep them away from fake news. 
• Ensure distribution of free masks and sanitisers. 
• Increase the trust factor among citizens so that they come out to help the government. 
• Coronavirus doesn't differentiate between caste religion, hence it is not the time for politics. 

READ | Sonia Gandhi makes 5 suggestions to PM Modi in response to his Coronavirus reach-out

Sonia's five-point suggestion to PM Modi

A day after PM Modi rallied all parties to fight the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19), Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi has responded by writing a letter to the PM on Tuesday. In her letter, she has given 5-points suggesting how the Centre can tackle the economic stress and help the people amid an attack by the deadly Coronavirus. She has also supported the decision taken by the Union Cabinet to reduce salaries for Members of Parliament by 30 percent.

READ | PM Modi reaches out to Sonia Gandhi among other Opposition netas amid Coronavirus fight

• In her 5 pointers, she has said that the Centre should impose a complete ban on media advertisements by Government and Public Sectors Undertakings (‘PSU’s).
• Second, she has demanded the suspension of the ₹20,000 crores ‘Central Vista’ beautification.
• Third, she has said that the 30% salary cut must be used for the economic safety of migrant workers, labourers, farmers, MSME’s and unorganised sector.
• Fourth, she has demanded that all foreign visits including that of the President, the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, State Ministers, and Bureaucrats must be put on hold.
• Fifth, citing transparency issues, she has said that all money under ‘PM Cares’ fund must be transferred to the ‘Prime Ministers National Relief Fund’ (‘PM-NRF’).

READ | Sonia Gandhi Criticises Govt For 'unplanned' Lockdown, Calls For Proactive Steps

PM Modi reached out to all party leaders on Sunday including Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam & Akhilesh Singh Yadav (SP), Naveen Patnaik (BJD), KCR (TRS), M K Stalin (DMK) and Parkash Singh Badal (Akali Dal). The Opposition had accused the Modi government of not engaging political parties even though the PM has interacted with notable members of civil society like sportspersons and senior journalists. Meanwhile, PM will interact with CMs of all state on Saturday on if the lockdown should be extended. 

According to a Health Ministry update this morning, the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 199 in India. The total number of coronavirus positive cases have climbed to 6,412. 

READ | Congress Working Committee discusses Coronavirus situation: Read Sonia Gandhi's statement