The Left parties along with others have threatened to stage a demonstration outside the office of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on June 15 in protest against the government’s “failure” to handle COVID-19 pandemic.
Protests will also be staged outside the offices of the district in-charge Ministers and legislators, seeking an eight-point demand to be implemented. The cadre will stage a protest with COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, the leaders said. CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), SUCI, All-India Forward Block, Swaraj India, and RPI cadre will be part of the protests.
“We have been asking for time to meet the Chief Minister, but have failed it. The protest is to draw attention to the problem of the poor,” K. Uma of the SUCI (C) told reporters here. She said MGNREGA works should be ensured for at least 200 days from the current 100 days, and has to be extended to urban centres too.
CPI(M) State secretary Basavaraj said the “unscientific” lockdown had affected thousands of people. The Union and State governments had failed in pandemic management, he added.
“The financial aid announced by the government is grossly insufficient and it should be enhanced to at least ₹10,000. It is also restrictive as not all sections of BPL families have been covered,” CPI State secretary Saati Sundaresh said. He said the State that had a budget outlay of ₹2.4 lakh crore had kept aside a mere ₹1,500 crore as aid when thousands are complaining of hunger.
