The Congress on Tuesday accused the government of abandoning its fight against Covid-19, leaving the people to fend for themselves even as the infection curve rises and economic woes deepen.
“The mismanagement of the pandemic will be recorded as one of the most disastrous failures of the Modi government,” Congress president Sonia Gandhi was quoted as saying at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest policy-making body.
The CWC said in a resolution: “After more than four months into the pandemic, it is astonishing that the Modi government has not unveiled a coherent strategy on reducing fatalities, increasing testing, contact tracing and ensuring social distancing and safety for the most vulnerable population. There is no nationwide data on available hospital beds and ventilators and no clarity on future capacity planning.”
Expressing shock at the pace of infections, with 1 lakh fresh cases reported in the past eight days, the CWC said: “The capacity of our hospitals in major cities is being severely tested, our health workers are stressed and overburdened, and the Union government seems to have abandoned its responsibilities and passed the buck to the states, without offering adequate support. Many patients are being denied treatment or (are) not able to afford it.”
The CWC also pointed to a perceived lack of urgency in the government and the absence of a credible plan to expand the beleaguered health workforce with quick recruitment of young doctors, nurses and other health workers.
It urged the Centre to provide immediate relief to those paying exorbitant amounts for Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals by capping rates. It asked the government to intervene as insurance companies are not coming forward to support or cover Covid treatment.
Congress chief Sonia said at the CWC meeting: “The pandemic hit India in February. Within weeks, it was apparent that the government was totally unprepared to manage the fallout of a lockdown. The result was the greatest humanitarian crisis witnessed since 1947-48. Millions of migrant workers, daily wage earners and self-employed (people) were devastated. Around 130 million jobs are estimated to have been lost. Crores of MSMEs have been shut, perhaps forever.”
She added: “Despite the assurances of the Prime Minister, who has centralised all authority in his hands, the pandemic continues to rage. The grave deficiencies in the health infrastructure have been exposed. The Centre has passed the buck to the state governments, but given them zero extra finances. Actually, the people have been left to protect themselves as best as possible. The mismanagement of the pandemic will be recorded as one of the most disastrous failures of the Modi government.”
The CWC also expressed shock at the “unjust increases” in petrol and diesel prices in this time of distress, alleging that the Centre was profiteering by fleecing the people.
Demanding immediate transfer of cash to the poor and increasing the yearly job days under the MGNERGA to 200 days from 100, the CWC said: “If the government does not alter the course on this ill-advised trajectory then it will have the ruinous consequence of pushing many middle-income households to the margins of poverty and pushing the poor to total economic ruin.”