By HH Mohrmen
The impact of the pandemic on the country and the world at large is beyond one’s understanding and no doubt Meghalaya too has to bear the same brunt. The tragedy is that the pandemic is not likely to end soon and the state and its people have to prepare for a long drawn battle against COVID-19. Not only that the magnitude of the impact is inexplicable; it is also sad that there is no aspect of human lives that the pandemic has not touched. The question that is in the minds of the citizens of the state is how is the MDA government doing in the fight against the pandemic? The battle has been more than six months now, people would find comfort in knowing, whether we are on a winning stride or whether we are up against a wall in the fight against the pandemic.
Right now quite a sizable chunk of the population in the state is also asking and rightly so, if the state is fighting a losing battle. The first major indication that made people doubt the Government’s position in the battle has to do with the Chief Minister. The fact that the Chief Minister is doing a vanishing act from the frontline in the fight against the pandemic makes people question if the CM is tired or he has already foreseen the impending defeat which looms large over the horizon.
All of a sudden the Chief Minister is no longer seen briefing the media on the state of affairs with regards to the fight against COVID-19 in the state. The Deputy Chief Minister too who all along supported the Chief Minister also gradually disappearing from the scene and the important task of briefing the people of the state about the development in the battle against the pandemic is left to the Director of Health Services (MI) Government of Meghalaya. The irony is that when the state is witnessing a spike in cases of people getting affected by the virus, the spokes-persons of the Government are doing a vanishing act and it is left to the poor doctor to handle the difficult situation.
The decision of the Government to make citizens pay for their own test for COVID-19, also gave a confusing message to the public. The immediate message that the public is getting is that the Government is in a difficult situation, otherwise how would it abandon its responsibility to the people. Is this because the public exchequer is empty now or that the Government is giving up and is washing its hands off the issue and indirectly forcing the citizens to fend for themselves? It is said that people are expected to pay the cost of the test because the Government cannot handle the cost anymore. But one can also question the wisdom of those in the decision making of prioritising the purchase of used ambulances from the Uttar Pradesh government over getting the citizen of the State tested for COVID-19. In a pandemic situation which is more important? To get people tested for the virus or to buy the used ambulance? Or is there something else that people are not aware of behind the urgency of purchasing the used ambulance in lieu of getting citizens tested which is the need of the hour?
The irony is also that just when the State is experiencing a rise in Covid cases the Government makes this insensitive announcement that the citizens will now have to pay for the cost of the test. One may also ask, in a situation like this, what percentage of the population would find it comfortable to shell out Rs 3000 plus rupees for one test. The pandemic has already dealt a severe blow on the economic life of the middle income group of people and now they are expected to pay for getting tested for RAT or RT-PCR test. People will now also become a milking cow for those in the health sector because they will have to pay for another test every time they visit a hospital or a clinic. This will be an extra cost that every patient and perhaps even their attendants will have to incur. Until the vaccination for the ailment is found, COVID-19 test will be made mandatory for patients and people will have to prepare to pay an extra three thousand rupees every time they visit a hospital or a doctor’s clinic.
The other pertinent question is how many tests has the State conducted? There are reports which say that Meghalaya has done much less testing when compared to the other states in the region. Despite conducting fewer tests, the Government is giving up on the tests and leaving the people high and dry. The other pertinent question is, if the government cannot pay for the tests now, how can we expect this same Government to pay for vaccinating us citizens if and when the vaccine is available? Is the government abandoning its duty to provide health services to the people of the state? This question needs an answer?
The other major concern is that the Government is still in denial mode and is not admitting if the virus has taken turn to become a community spread now. How else can one explain the spike in cases? The other indication that the Government is gradually discarding its duty in the fight is the decision to reduce the quarantine period to ten days. There are also reports that not only is the quarantine period reduced to ten days but now even Covid positive patients who are asymptomatic or patients with mild symptoms are allowed to stay and get treated at home. It is understandable that the Government is trying to cut costs and this is also as per guidelines of the Union Health Ministry, but the question is what will happen if the patient all of a sudden develops complications, reaches a critical stage and requires a ventilator?
The other indication which makes people question the performance of the Government is the statements made by the Chief Minister and his Deputy with regards to the expenditure incurred by Government in fighting the pandemic. The two heads of the same government gave contradicting statements which has also raised many questions than they answered. It is therefore not surprising that individuals or institutions would resort to using the Right to Information provisions to seek information on how the Government has spent the Covid funds. The Government is now obviously caught in its own trap and this provides more ammunition not only to the Opposition but even the public to raise questions.
Criticism against the Government’s way of spending the State’s meagre resources in the fight against COVID-19 gained momentum when the Government of Manipur made public how much it had spent in tackling COVID-19 pandemic. The Manipur Government’s report that was made public shows an expenditure of only Rs 60 crore whereas the Government of Meghalaya had spent almost Rs 400 crore for a similar number of patients and doing pretty much the same thing. The public has the right to question how come there is this huge difference of over three hundred percent in the expenditures incurred by the two states in tackling the same pandemic?
The Government of Meghalaya is obviously not doing itself a favour in how it tackles the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains to be seen how this fight will end. But from what is available in the public domain it is safe to say that the performance of the MDA government leaves much to be desired. Hopefully the Government will not abandon its sacred duty to ensure that every citizen, especially the poor and the needy, are provided health care service that they most need.
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