They proposed a comprehensive action plan to deal with the crisis, both on the economic front and the health front

Former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday said only a “heartless” government would watch the plight of the hungry poor and do nothing to ameliorate the situation, scaling up the Congress criticism of the handling of the corona-induced crisis.

Chidambaram said in a series of tweets: “There is overwhelming evidence that more and more people have run out of cash and are forced to stand in lines to collect free cooked food. Only a heartless Government will stand by and do nothing.”

He added: “Why cannot Government save them from hunger and protect their dignity by transferring cash to every poor family? Why can’t the Government distribute, free of cost, a small part of the 77 million tonnes of grain with FCI to families who need the grain to feed themselves? These two questions are both economic and moral questions. (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (the finance minister) have failed to answer both questions, as the nation watches helplessly.”

The Congress has not only asked for the transfer of Rs 7,500 to the accounts of the poor, covering almost 60 per cent of the population, it has also demanded distribution of two months’ ration to them.

The party has proposed a comprehensive action plan on how to deal with the crisis, both on the economic front and the health front. The government has so far largely ignored these suggestions.

Chidambaram said the numbers of positive cases put out on Sunday by the states, the Indian Council of Medical Research and by the Union health ministry were conflicting and confusing. “Usually, states’ total is the highest, followed by ICMR number, followed by the Health Ministry’s number. Today, it is the other way around. I rely on the dashboard jointly hosted by Health Ministry and ICMR. The difference between the dashboard number and ICMR’s number for April 18 is an astonishing 1573. Will the ministry and ICMR reconcile their reports from the states and report a uniform number every day?” he said.

In a newspaper article on Sunday, Chidambaram again touched upon the hunger issue, writing, “the proportion of the population that has been left to fend for itself for 21+19 days. Their survival does not appear to be a priority of the Central Government. Chief Ministers are at their wits’ end. Hunger is widespread, malnutrition is entrenched. Why the Government cannot allocate up to Rs 65,000 crore (out of an expenditure budget of Rs 30 lakh crore) to provide cash support to up to 50% of the families, is a mystery.”

On the economy, he wrote: “It is sliding to zero growth in the first quarter. There is no plan in the making. Revival of the economy requires ideas, a plan, and effective implementation. A talent-short Government, if it is serious, will constitute a Task Force consisting of economists like Dr Raghuram Rajan, Dr Arvind Panagariya, Dr Esther Duflo, Dr Arvind Subramanian, Dr Isaac Thomas, Dr Himanshu, Dr Jean Dreze and Dr Sajjid Chinoy to recommend a hundred things that have to be done.”