india

Updated: Apr 27, 2020 20:49 IST

Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former chief minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy has demanded that the government announce new schemes to save livelihoods of people especially those in the unorganised sector.

Asking the government to provide immediate relief to farmers, construction workers, cab and auto drivers, garment workers and others, Kumaraswamy said that the economy is unlikely to bounce back quickly, it is important to lower the cost of living.

Demanding that the government cut petrol and diesel prices, the Karnataka leader said in a series of tweets that the loss of revenue maybe offset partially by imposing Covid-19 cess on the ultra-rich.

Citing RBI and international economic agencies, he said that GDP growth rate is expected to fall to a historic low.

“Such a dire situation calls for citizen centric measures like full or partial waiver of EMIs, rents, school fees and other levies,” he added.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, in a letter to Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, demanded a special package for farmers on the lines that the state government has provided to dairy farmers.

Gowda, who has always projected himself as a farmer leader and a ‘son of the soil’, said that farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy as they are unable to sell their produce due to the lockdown. Underlining that this was forcing farmers to sell their land, Gowda demanded that an immediate package for distressed farmers be announced.