Senior Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge Writes to PM Modi, Offers 6 Suggestions

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately convene an all-party meeting and offering six suggestions to tackle the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“Use ₹35,000 crore allocated in Union Budget to ensure free vaccine for all. Leverage compulsory licensing to increase production of vaccines,” Kharge said in his letter. He further suggested to expand the scope of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to 200 days.

“Expedite the distribution of relief material and proactively disclose where it is shipped and leverage our collective strengths by governing consensually and inclusively,” the Congress leader said in his letter to the Prime Minister. The letter comes a day before the Congress Working Committee (CWC) holds a meeting to review the party’s performance in the recently concluded assembly elections.

India recorded more than four lakh cases in a 24-hour span for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. According to Union health ministry, 4,03,738 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the said period, which took the nationwide tally to 2,22,96,414.

The death toll climbed to 2,42,362 with 4,092 daily deaths, the data on Sunday morning showed. Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 37,36,648, comprising 16.76 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 82.15 per cent.