Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to publicly state the measures that will be taken once the 21-day total lockdown ends.
He also urged Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to hold an all-party meeting in Tamil Nadu to discuss the COVID-19 situation.
In a statement, Mr. Thirumavalavan said a majority of the people in the country were thinking that life would return to normal once the lockdown ends on April 14.
“The Central government should announce officially whether the restrictions would end on April 14. We call upon the all-party meeting to be chaired by the Prime Minister on Wednesday to discuss all these points in detail, and chart a definitive program that will bolster the confidence of the people,” said Mr. Thirumavalavan.
He said India would need 16 lakh testing kits, 50,000 ventilators and 27 lakh N-95 face masks and there was already scarcity of ventilators and face masks across the country.
“Despite reports that the government had taken steps to import 36,000 ventilators, there is no clear information as to when they will be available. If the epidemic hits Stage 3, community transmission, the Central and State governments are absolutely not prepared for that. This causes great fear. So, how many face masks, test kits, ventilators, and hospital beds do we need? How many are presently available in a fully functional state? What are the measures taken by the government in this regard? We ask the Prime Minister to make these details available to the public in a transparent manner,” he said.
There was a possibility of dire shortage of essential commodities, including food and that the people of the country should be informed of the measures taken by the government to handle such a crisis.
“Will public transport begin immediately after April 14? Will buses run? These are questions that people have. After tomorrow’s meeting, the Prime Minister should address these issues and make it clear to the people,” he said.
He also urged the Prime Minister not to do a sudden announcement of a lockdown, which caused undue hardship to people.
