Govt dumped the poor: Congress

SHILLONG, May 26: The Opposition Congress has slammed the NPP-led MDA government for shrugging off its responsibility of helping the economically weaker sections of society hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown.
“It is ridiculous and unfair that the government is saying it is sorry for failing to help the citizens during this hour of crisis,” senior Congress leader Ampareen Lyngdoh told reporters here Wednesday.
She said the government’s inability to provide financial assistance to the lockdown-affected people for lack of funds was beyond comprehension.
“What has happened to the exchequer? We have been made to understand as legislators that a large amount has come from Delhi to the state,” she said.
Stating that the government needs to find a way out, she said one cannot expect people to remain hungry.
“As an MLA, I am trying my best to reach out to my people with essential commodities every day. But unfortunately, those who are under home quarantine have not got anything from the government so far,” Lyngdoh said.
She said 60 per cent of the people do not have ration cards and they may lose out on the below-poverty-line benefit as the economic census has not been updated for a very long time.
“The sanctioned number has remained the same for so many years. I will not accept this nonsense. The government has to reach out to people who are in need of help,” she said.
Lyngdoh admitted the government was proactive during the first wave of the pandemic. “But this time when we are getting a beating, you cannot say how much the government can do. I am hopeful that this government will not let us down,” she added.