Congress asks PM to define lockdown exit strategy

Addressing the media, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said the lockdown had been there for more than a month, but there had been no clarity on a number of issues. "The lockdown can''t continue for long. We hope the Prime Minister will unveil some national plan to the Chief Ministers."

Under section 23 of the Disaster Management Act, the states couldn't make their plans until a national plan was finalised.

Tewari said the government didn't anticipate the Covid-19's magnitude and took some steps in haste. But now the government must know what could happen, he added.

Tewari questioned the veracity of the Covid Task Force Chairman''s claim that there would be no coronavirus case after May 16.

The Congress spokesperson said the biggest human crisis was that of migrant labourers, and added, around 41 lakh labourers were in shelter homes and another 99 lakh being fed by NGOs. The government should chalk out a plan to send labourers back to their homes and disclose the steps taken so far.

He also demanded to know about the second financial assistance package. "What the government is waiting for," he said.

Urging the government to step up testing, it said why there was a cap on 39,000 tests a day. It could be scaled up to 100,000 tests a day, Tewari said.