Special Congress Party Press Briefing by Manish Tewari and Supriya Shrinate via video conferencing :

• The indignity with which the Prime Minister talked about MNREGA, the same MNREGA is a life saver in rural areas today.
• Govt. feels that it will avoid issues by holding a loan fair but that won’t happen. The govt talked about loans to street vendors, but who will give them loans? Only the Prime Minister can tell us this.
• Look at the insensitivity of the government that is doing nothing for the workers walking on foot right now but talking about measures ahead.
• The Food Security Act mandates 66% of the population be covered. It is now just 60%. If we include 10-11 crore people, then we will reach the target of 66%. Therefore PDS should be universalized.
• It seems that neither the PM, nor the FM nor his cabinet are reading the newspapers or watching the news, because they don’t see millions of people, pregnant women walking on the road.
• Except for the Rs 1500 crore interest subvention for Shishu Mudra loans and this Rs 3500 crores, there is nothing else. The Government does not even have the figure of how many people were housed in relief camps.
• For the millions of migrants that you claim are the builders of this nation, all you have for them is 3500 crores in terms of atta and chana. This is your empathy for the poor of this country. That’s why we say you’re a ‘Suit Boot Sarkaar’.
• The entire quantum of this package is ₹3500 crores out of a ₹20 lakh crore package that BJP ostensibly put together for the greatest humanitarian tragedy since the 1947 partition exodus and the East Pakistan refugee crisis.
• Presuming even 50% stayed, you’re still talking about 4cr people. Have you left them to God’s mercy? Essentially what you’re telling them is that if you reach home safely, then we will give you 5 kg rice or atta & 1 kg chana for next 2 months.