Rahul Gandhi releases white paper on COVID-19 mismanagement, says its purpose is to help nation prepare for third wave

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday released a white paper on the Central government's COVID-19 management and said that the aim of this report is not to point fingers at the government.

"The aim of this white paper on COVID-19 is not finger-pointing at the government but to help the nation prepare for the third wave of infection. The whole country knows that a third wave will strike," Rahul Gandhi said.

Releasing the "white paper", the former Congress chief said it is clear that the management of the first and second wave of COVID-19 was "disastrous".

"It's clear that management of the first and second wave of COVID was disastrous, & we've tried to point out the reasons behind it. I would even go so far as to say that there might be waves even after the third wave of COVID19 as the virus is mutating," Rahul Gandhi said.

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Asserting that the central pillar to fight COVID-19 is vaccination, Rahul Gandhi said it is important that "we cross bridge of 100 per cent vaccination as soon as possible".

He also urged the government to treat all states equally for COVID-19 vaccinations, asserting that there should be no bias and they should not be viewed as BJP or opposition states.

During his press meet via video conferencing, Rahul Gandhi said there are four main pillars of the paper and explained its foundation.

"We have basically developed four pillars, one pillar is the idea of understanding what went wrong and our suggestion is to have a commission who looks into some of the shortcomings so that we can correct it," the Congress leader said.

"The second pillar is preparation for the third wave, which includes the development of critical infrastructure which included oxygen and other things. The third pillar is the idea of an economic assistance package," he added.

Gandhi also asserted that government should prepare for a COVID-19 compensation fund to distribute the money to people who have lost their loved ones.

"The fourth and final element is the COVID-19 compensation fund, where we give money to people who have lost their loved ones," Rahul Gandhi added.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)