Stalin consults experts to bail TN out of virus distress

Interacting with experts on video call, Stalin recalled his past discussions and said, “I have been interacting with experts from the beginning and putting forth suggestions to the government. They have accepted some and ignored a few. We had even moved the court on a few instances. It’s been 100 days since the first person tested positive. But, disease spread has not been controlled till now. Tamil Nadu has the best medical infrastructure in South Asia. But the government has failed miserably in controlling virus spread.”

Squarely blaming the government for the virus spread, Stalin said the spread of COVID-19 has increased in six other districts like Chennai, but the government was still denying community spread. “If they had paid Rs 5,000 per family as I had suggested, it would have eased the difficulties of the people at least a bit,” he said.

He also wondered what could be done to improve the livelihood of people who had lost their jobs. Seeking to know if a famine-like situation would arise, the DMK president asked if the collection of due share of GST revenue from the Centre and reduction in tax on fuel would help the state people.

Joining the discussion, economist J Jeyaranjan argued, “How will MSMEs revive if the government does not pay them their dues?” Suggesting that increasing MNREGS days to 250 days per year would increase buying or spending power of the people, Jeyaranjan proposed the creation of a hurdle-free climate to do business and wider consultation with MSMEs to address their problems. Scholar VS Sambandan said that implementation of a universal basic income and improved National Health Service, like in United Kingdom, must be considered for a developed State like Tamil Nadu.