Govindas fears 3rd wave, demands economic package
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 08 2021:
While opining that the state might not have witnessed high mortality rate in the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic had the government constructed the Covid Special Hospital at Langthabal as pronounced by CM Biren, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Govindas Konthoujam has asked the government about its preparedness for the inevitable 3rd wave.
In a message sent to the people of the state on Tuesday, Govindas said that Congress party has been contributing significantly in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic by providing ambulance service, distributing relief materials and setting up community home isolation centres in different assembly constituencies.
The party has been asking several questions and providing suggestions to both the state and central governments regarding the handling of the health crisis.
On May 12, MPCC submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister with the request for setting up a 1000-bedded Covid Hospital by roping in DRDO considering the spike in fatality rate in the state.
Setting up the hospital can help in facing the 3rd wave to a great extent, he maintained.
However, the party has not received any response from the Centre in this regard till date, he added.
Reacting to a statement of Lok Sabha MP Dr RK Ranjan, who said that opposition parties have gone into hiding during the pandemic, Govindas said that Congress and other opposition parties are not remaining silent but playing their parts in the fight against the pandemic.
On the other hand, chief minister N Biren spoke of setting up a 200-bedded Covid hospital at Langthabal last year within a month but it never materialised.
The situation would have been better had the government set up the hospital, he asserted.
The government did not learn the right lesson from the first wave, which is why the number of infected people is increasing every day and lives of several people lost during the second wave.
As a result, several families are facing financial crisis, he said.
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded free and universal vaccination for all.
At the same time, CLP leader of the state also pressed the state government for aggressive vaccination on May 4.Thankfully, the Prime Minister has announced free vaccination for all adults and it can be credited to the public voice and intervention from the Supreme Court.
Taking up such measures in the first place could have saved thousands of lives, Govindas maintained.
Vaccination rate is very slow in the state and only 3 per cent of the state's population have received their second dose.
Tripura exceeds Manipur in number of first doses administered.
So far, the CM has not declared a timeline for achieving 100 per cent vaccination in the state.
On the other hand, the government is remaining silent over the variants found in the state despite understanding the importance of knowing the variants in transmission for effective containment.
At the same time, the government is heavily relying on RAT though chances of false negative are high in RAT.
While RTPCR is considered gold standard, delay in delivering test results has been hampering the containment measures, he said.
Many people are dying everyday due to non-availability of ICU beds.
He had requested the government in April last year to strengthen infrastructure in the district hospitals in order to reduce the load in RIMS and JNIMS but no initiatives were taken up in this regard, he said.
Moreover, the government has not brought any detailed data regarding the virus including fatalities and black fungus cases.
The government also lags behind in framing proper policy for students, who are on the verge of losing their academic career.
People are now going to private hospitals in the absence of adequate facilities in government hospitals As a result, many are facing huge financial burden.
Unfortunately, the government has not declared any economic package for the poor people, who have been affected by the pandemic.
Comment
