By Manoj Pathak

Ranchi, May 9 (IANS): The leader of opposition in Jharkhand Assembly Babulal Marandi has lashed out at the Hemant Soren government for not doing enough to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state.

He said if the government had acted swiftly, the virus could have been contained in a limited area.

"The Jharkhand government has failed on all fronts - be it the issue of migrant labourers or providing relief to the needy," Marandi said.

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Marandi said, "A large number of people in the state have no ration cards as a result of which the government machinery can't reach them."

He said, "There are lakhs of people in the state, at least seven lakhs, who have applied for the ration card, but have not received them. It is sad to see these people are not getting the food grains provided by the central government."

"The first infection of coronavirus was reported in Hindipiri area of Ranchi. If the government had acted swiftly, the infection could not have spread to other areas of the state. Now the government has deployed para military force there, but it is too late now as anybody could be a carrier of the virus," Marandi added.

Marandi said the Hemant Soren government does not seem interested in fighting the deadly virus. "See, a large number of migrant labourers are returning home by trains and the government's testing capacity is too low. There is no coordination with the state governments from where the migrant workers are returning."

"Who is taking money from the migrant labourers who are returning home in trains? The Jharkhand government must find out," said Marandi.

Marandi stressed that the BJP's entire organization is engaged in providing relief to the needy. "All our MLAs, party office bearers and workers are providing relief to the people at this hour of crisis."

"At least 10 lakh people of Jharkhand work outside the state. If half of them return home, there will be a crisis of unemployment, The government must take steps to contain this," Marandi added.

As a piece of advice to the government, Marandi said, "The government must provide immediate relief to the MSME sector to stop job losses. Creating employment opportunity should be the top priority of the government."