States taking better measures, Centre diffident: Chidambaram follows Rahul on Coronavirus

Amid coronavirus outbreak in country, Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that Centre is t doing eugh to prevent a mass outbreak of deadly virus in country and urged for a video conference between Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of various states.

'Wher we are behind or ahead of curve'

Speaking to news ncy ANI, he said, " government is t doing eugh on coronavirus. I have quarrels if Prime Minister wants a meeting with SAARC or G-20 countries it may have some benefits. But question is wher we are behind or ahead of curve. My feeling is that states are taking better measures whereas Centre is very diffident. re should be a video conference between Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers."

" rate at which infection is galloping is worrying. Last week number (of those infected) was around 32 and this Sunday number has reached 107. And re are many ors who are t presenting mselves for testing because re are t eugh testing facilities, se are matters which government should address," he added.

' government is doing exactly opposite'

Parliamentarian furr slammed government for increasing excise duty on petrol and diesel. "Sensex is just one indicator, while its decline should worry us we should ask more fundamental questions. What has government done today, it has increased excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre. transport industry is already down because of low demand and ir earnings are down already," Chidambaram said. "This is t time to suppress demand, it is time to stimulate. government is doing exactly opposite," he added.

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number of confirmed vel coronavirus cases in India has gone up to 110, according to Health Ministry data as of Sunday night. Out of 110 cases, 17 patients are foreign nationals. Moreover, of total tally, two persons have passed away due to disease, with one death having occurred in Karnataka’s Kalburgi and second one in Delhi. Nine patients have also been discharged after having been recovered.

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Globally, re have been over 1.69 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 6,500 people have died so far — majority of m in China. However, infections have steadily risen in Iran, Italy, South Korea, Spain and United States.

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