Congress demands SoP for delivery boys after pizza delivery boy tests coronavirus positive in Delhi

With a pizza delivery boy in Delhi testing positive for coronavirus, Congress on Friday demanded that a standard operating procedure for delivery boys should be prepared and notified and it should also apply to others exempted from lockdown.

Addressing a press conference through video-conferencing, Congress leader Ajay Maken said that 55 health care professionals have been infected in Delhi which is highest in the country and "Delhi has huge scarcity of PPE".

He said 1,640 persons had tested positive and 135 were under investigations and asked if the metropolis had entered the third stage of COVID-19 transmission.

He said private schools in Delhi should not charge fee due to lockdown and the government should provide 75 per cent salaries of teachers. He also demanded Rs 7500 per month for vulnerable sections.

Maken said a pizza delivery boy has been found positive for the virus and 89 persons have been quarantined.

"Why is there not a regulation for all individuals who are exempted from lockdown? We suggest SOP for delivery boys should be prepared and should be notified as regulations so that they are binding on everyone," he said.

Maken said protection gears, including stizers, mask, and hand gloves should be provided by the employers.

The Congress leader said that "pizza delivery boy was refused to be tested earlier" despite being symptomatic.

"The SOP should also include early testing of this vulnerable section" he said.

The pizza delivery boy, who had delivered food in Malviya Nagar area, tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday.

Noting that Delhi has one of the highest percentages of migrant populations in India, he said it includes labourers, construction workers, self-employed persons as street vendors, rickshaw pullers and rag pickers.

"Rs 7500 should be provided to each person of such vulnerable sections per month. The government should immediately, based on records available, transfer money to this section," he said.

He said Rajasthan and Punjab Governments have deferred fixed charges in the electricity bills of all non-domestic (commercial) and industrial connections for March and April due to lockdown.

"Delhi Government should ensure that no fixed charges on electricity bills are charged for three months from the industrial and non-domestic (commercial) connections," he said.

Noting that Chhattisgarh government provided two months ration free of cost to 86 per cent of the households which includes 70 kg rice, 2 kg sugar and 3 kg pulses, he said vulnerable sections in Delhi including all slums, resettlement colonies, unauthorised colonies, unauthorised-regularised colonies should be provided immediately two months of ration. "This will cover around 60 per cent of households in Delhi" he said.

Maken said Delhi Government schools cater to only 34 per cent of total students in Delhi and students and parents of private schools are worried about the fees and the teachers about their salaries.

The Delhi Government should pass an order for not charging any fees and should ensure 75 per cent of salaries of teachers are provided by the government to the schools.

He also said that MSMEs should be given 75 per cent of their employees' salaries for three months.

Maken demanded that private or government safai karamcharis and health care workers should be provided Rs 7500 per month as risk allowance for three months.

Noting that Rajasthan Government has also deferred payments on water bills, he said the Delhi Government should not only defer the water bills but should also ensure adequate supply of water in May and June.

"Tanker dependent areas should be concentrated first so that social distancing is not compromised with," he said.

He also said that unemployed youth upto the age of 35 years who have already registered or register up to April 30 should be provided unemployment allowance of Rs 5000.

Maken called for aggressive testing against coronavirus both at the state and national levels. He said it was only in a meeting on April 4 that the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for "a realistic estimates for requirement of consumables like N-95 masks, surgical masks, PPE kits etc in all public scenarios".

( With inputs from ANI )