NYAY promises families in the bottom 20 per cent of the economic strata a minimum of ₹ 72,000 a year as guaranteed income.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today hinted that steps taken by the central government till now will not be able to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging India. He also accused the government of causing loss of life through its inaction.

“The only way to stop the spread of Corona now is a full lockdown – with the protection of NYAY for the vulnerable sections,” Mr Gandhi tweeted today, prefacing the statement with, “GOI (Government of India) doesn’t get it.”

Mr Gandhi also said, “GOI’s inaction is killing many innocent people.”

The Wayanad parliamentarian’s party had proposed NYAY or Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Minimum Income Scheme) in its 2019 general election manifesto, promising families in the bottom 20 per cent of the economic strata a minimum of Rs72,000 a year as guaranteed income.

He had promised poll-bound Kerala that the scheme would be “tested” there if the party-led alliance was voted to power in the Assembly election held last month.

This was the only way to uplift the Indian economy which had “collapsed” due to demonetisation done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his flawed GST implementation, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, the Congress leader had claimed.

Last week, Mr Gandhi had targeted the Centre saying there was zero accountability despite over two lakh people having died in India during the second wave of the disease.

In the past 24 hours, India has reported more than 3.57 lakh fresh Covid cases along with 567 deaths. The country’s case load has by now crossed over two crores and fatalities stand at nearly 3,500.

The BJP was quick to hit back at Mr Gandhi for his tweet today, accusing him of playing “cheap politics” over the pandemic.

Citing Mr Gandhi’s earlier stand against a lockdown, the party’s National in-charge of Information & Technology said, “The only person who doesn’t get it is – Rahul Gandhi. Using the pandemic for cheap political thrills is a new low even by Rahul Gandhi’s otherwise low standards!