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No scientific basis for another lockdown: CPI(M)

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 28 - The impact of another lockdown in Kamrup (Metro), which began this evening, on curbing the spread of COVID-19 is doubtful even as it will adversely impact the economic condition of the masses, said the Left parties.

�There is lot of doubt about how effective another round of lockdown will be in preventing the spread of the pandemic. In no other place across the world has a second such total lockdown been imposed. This proves that the government�s strategy to curb the pandemic has been a failure. At the same time, unlike the rich and well-to-do sections of the society, the majority of people do not have money and resources to stockpile food and other essential items for a prolonged period. Many have lost jobs and income during the earlier phases of lockdown. The new lockdown will make the economic and financial condition of the common people even worse,� Suprakash Talukdar, central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), said.

He said there is no scientific basis for imposition of another total lockdown.

�There was no planning. It was a knee jerk reaction of the state government. And even when the lockdown was announced, why no control was kept over the wholesale markets. Retail prices of all commodities shot up exponentially as traders resorted to artificial price hike. People have suffered. The price hike in last three days in the markets of Guwahati was engineered in the wholesale markets and did not take place at the source,� the senior Marxist leader said.

�Thousands of people who were engaged in the unorganised sector lost their jobs during the first lockdown and they did not get back their jobs during the period of Unlock 1.0. Many thousands of others, including daily wage earners hailing from other parts of the State, left Guwahati during that period and have not returned. And now another lockdown has been imposed in Kamrup (Metro). Guwahati is the economic hub of Assam and the impact will be felt across the State. The lockdown will ruin the economy of entire Assam,� he said.

Munin Mahanta, secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI), Assam state council, accused the government of ignoring the plight of the masses, especially the economically weaker sections.

�That the government lacks a sound plan and perspective becomes evident from the ways it has acted during last few months. No political parties, scientific and medical fraternity and the civil society were consulted before the government announced the new lockdown,� Mahanta said.

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