Collective political will is the need of the hour at a time when the State is dealing with Covid-19. Politicians, however never spare an opportunity to score political points even amidst a disaster that is disrupting lives and livelihoods. Bipartisanship and a collective political spirit have been missing at a time when there is a stark need to take steps to deal with the crisis at hand. At this time the Opposition and ruling party/parties have to engage in regular dialogues to think of urgent policy interventions. This is more important than simply landing verbal blows on the Government. This is not to say that everything the Government is doing is right. It would be naïve to believe that every Government in power thinks of the larger public good at all times, but, these are unprecedented times and the Congress would be better appreciated if it were to show some of its public activities in combating Covid-19 instead of simply finding fault with the Government.
The Congress actually needs to push for an Assembly session where economic distress due to Covid-19 would be discussed and mitigating factors would be suggested and put in place. Assembly sessions are where issues that impinge on the public, such as difficulties faced by many in getting admitted to private and public hospitals in the state are concerned; treatment protocols for Covid-19; amount spent so far in combating Covid by way of providing quarantine facilities. So far, many availing institutional quarantine have reported that they were well looked after. This is due in no small measure to the commitment of the health workers and volunteers at the various quarantine centres.
The Assembly session would have revealed steps taken by Government to ramp up testing centres so that those being tested are not put through the pangs of a long wait for their results. This also reduces the quarantine time at Government centres. The people would like to know how the Government is involving the private sector in strengthening testing facilities. Today these questions are all being asked by the media since the Opposition and Government are not meeting on a regular basis to try and work out a model of political synthesis, at least where dealing with Covid-19 is concerned. The Opposition should have given feedback to the Government as to how whole-sale containment of shnongs and localities is affecting the livelihoods of many. A collective political will and greater cooperation between the Government and Opposition is needed to deal with what is seen as a critical stage in the transmission of the virus. At this juncture the last thing we need is political opportunism.
