On Friday, Congress MP from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi claimed has that the demarcation of Coronavirus-affected areas into the red (high number of cases), orange and green (no cases) is being done on a national level. He asserted that the power to decide these zones should have rested with the State and the District Magistrates, insinuating that the union government has taken unilateral decisions when deciding on zones.
Casting aspersions about the efforts of the Union Government in containing the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States have informed him that the green zones are, in fact, red zones and vice versa.
Red, orange & Green zones have been demarcated at National level. These zones should be decided at state levels involving District Magistrates. Our CMs are saying that the areas which are red zones at national level are actually green zones & vice versa: Rahul Gandhi #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/hWKsvWMCfe
— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2020
MHA Press Note says otherwise
While the lockdown was extended in India to further 2 weeks starting from May 4, significant relaxations were allowed as per the specific zones. The press note said that the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into Red (hotspot), Green, and Orange Zones.
The MHA circular clearly states that the zones are decided as per feedback from districts. It also stated that weekly review of the zones will be conducted with state authorities regarding the classifications.
The green zones are ones with zero confirmed cases to date or no confirmed cases for the last 21 days. The circular also said that the classification of districts as Red, Green, and Orange zones will be reviewed every week by the Ministry of Health with the States and Union Territories, as required. It also states that the states can add additional red and orange zones if they deem it necessary.
Moreover, the decisions of lockdown and subsequent steps have been taken after multiple meetings between the PM, home ministry and CMs of states. So claiming that the government’s decisions have been unilateral is a blatant lie.
Debunking misleading claims of Rahul Gandhi
It is clear that the decision to demarcate areas as orange, red and green was taken by the Union Government in consultation with State authorities. It implies that an area has been marked as red, only after the State Government has been briefed about it.
Rahul Gandhi – A Serial Liar
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had attacked the ruling BJP after the Reserve Bank of India released a list of 50 wilful defaulters accused of cheating banks. These 50 defaulters included the companies of absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi and fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya.
Following the incident, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman schooled Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his false claims on “wilful defaulters, bad loans and write-offs”, calling them an attempt to “mislead people in a brazen manner” and sensationalise facts.
Rahul Gandhi had also had to apologise to the Supreme Court last year for falsely attributing his flopped slogan ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ to SC judges. From ranting over Doklam standoff, martyr status of jawans, mobile factories to Rafale fighter jets deal, Rahul Gandhi has been constantly peddling lies with impunity.
