Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the country cannot continue without providing support to the people who are suffering as a result of this lockdown. Talking to reporters here on Friday through a video conference, the Wayanad MP said the Centre should adopt a decentralised approach to tackle the Covid-19 menace and requested the Centre to view State governments and district magistrates as partners.

He said the Centre should not centralise the decision making and supported the views of several Chief Ministers that the hotspots must be decided after discussions with the States. "Our Chief Ministers are not getting their due money from the Centre. We have received inputs that BJP Chief Ministers also have the same feeling," he said.

He said the Central government must take steps to increase the demand. "You need to create demand, put money in the system, put money in poor people’s hands, help MSMEs and make sure you’re protecting some of the larger players because these are all interconnected," he added.

He reiterated that direct benefits transfer should be done at the earliest. "Take the idea of Nyay and start putting money directly into the hands of 50 per cent of India’s poor households. It’s not going to cost too much. ₹65,000 crores is what it is going to cost," Gandhi said.

He expressed concern at the plight of migrant workers and said on the issue of transfer of migrants, a conversation between States has to happen and these decisions have to be made with empathy towards migrants, and the Centre has to oversee.

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