By Patricia Mukhim
The news is not good. Covid numbers are rising and so are the deaths. The news from NEIGRIHMS and from the State Health Department is worrying. Healthcare workers as can be expected are either too exhausted or have tested Covid-positive. Dr Bhattacharya of NEIGRIHMS has correctly stated that ICUs require an Intensivist who specializes in the care of critically ill patients. Then there’s need for critical care technicians who are trained to respond rapidly and competently to medical emergencies. All this takes time and investment in human resources which this state and country have not done in the last 74 years. And now it’s impossible to suddenly produce this category of skilled manpower to manage the ICUs. Needless to say if there aren’t enough qualified technicians and Intensivists then our ICUs are worthless. We can only lament our fates at this point those we elected to govern the state and country had no vision. They failed us!
Yes the country and state are in a crisis. This is the time when all the elected must overcome their ennui, get out of their comfort zones and be with those who are suffering and mourning. People are dying and lives matter. The elected here includes all MLAs, MDCs, Syiems, Myntris, Rangbah Shnong etc. They are all elected for one reason only – to serve the people. To say at this juncture that they don’t have resources to mobilise the community against Covid is a poor excuse. The Dorbar Shnong particularly have a duty to (a) help maintain vigil in the respective Shnong so that those testing positive don’t gallivant around (b) that people in the respective localities maintain Covid protocols and strictly observe the District Administration’s notifications about how many shops should remain open on a particular day (c) that quarantine centres are provided volunteers that are mobilised by the Shnong. A Rangbah Shnong and his Committee must be able to mobilise that kind of voluntarism in a crisis.
Localities like Nongmynsong, Mawbah and Polo had to suffer an enforced lockdown because people don’t respect protocols even when they know this is a matter of life and death. This reflects on the poor functioning of the Dorbar Shnong of those areas. In fact such Dorbar Shnong have to bear the onus for the Covid spread in the entire city. This is not the only time that the Nongmynsong market area has violated protocols. Last year too this place was perpetually crowded and people did not care a hoot about the Covid notifications. Other Shnongs however, were seen to be more disciplined and capable of managing their residents and even the passers-by.
The Khasi Hills District Council has constructed some good buildings near Lum Sohpet Bneng for Indigenous tribal healers. The buildings are not occupied as yet. Can the Council not offer that facility as a temporary hospital instead of us having to wait for the pre-fabricated hospitals to come up? Of course there will be need for ICUs to be set up and other facilities like beds/blankets etc which the Councils should mobilise out of their resources. If the Councils don’t do something now, then when? And that place is a sanatorium with fresh air, peace and calm all around. The Councils also have some guest houses near the Umiam Lake which could also be temporary corona care centres. Why should the state government spend money on temporary constructions without having taken stock of all buildings available and lying unoccupied? The money (Rs 2 crore?) should be used to equip these buildings with life-saving equipments and drugs and for managing the centres. The least the District Councils should do now is to work in tandem with the State Government. This is the time for all the elected to ‘give,’ for they have taken enough from the system.
As a community we have our duties too and fault-finding at this juncture is not one of those duties. Yes we are angry at the callousness of the central leadership and their bungling on the vaccine and then the handling of the pandemic this time around. The agonising sight of dead bodies floating on the Ganges; of people dying for want of oxygen and of the Prime Minister and his cronies at the PMO still micro-managing foreign aid that comes to assist Indians and channelizing financial aid through the dubious PM CARES Fund, are galling. And we have to be angry and protest but let’s not end up there. Let’s store these memories until 2024 and not accidentally delete then when Modi indulges in another set of histrionics. Those who have presided over a regime that has lost count of the number of deaths have to be resoundingly defeated. That goes for the states too. But that’s not enough. We can’t allow one set of failed politicians to be replaced by another set of similar calibre for then we are asking for more trouble and would have learnt nothing from this pandemic. In fact, one hopes fervently that the pandemic throws up a clutch of selfless leaders before we are punished by another virus.
One thing that confounds is why the bureaucracy goes along with the chicanery of their political masters even when doing so has cost so many lives. What makes the bureaucracy act like rubber stamps endorsing everything that the political class does? Why don’t we have even one senior bureaucrat in the PMO or the Health Ministry or Home Ministry resigning on moral grounds as one IAS officer did during the anti-CAA days? How can an entire class of administrators keep following what is essentially a wrong trajectory of governance? And now when the judiciary steps in the Solicitor General tells the justices to keep their hands off administration! We are fortunate that the judiciary has stepped in to streamline the distribution of oxygen and for setting up a national task force to handle the pandemic. Left to the central government everything would have been reduced to the worst political duplicity and cover-up.
In our own state the Congress Party has launched a broadside at Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for attending the oath taking ceremony of the Assam Chief Minister after postponing a cabinet meet which was to address the health emergencies in his state. NPP supporters will see his presence in Dispur as a noble gesture while detractors call it a dereliction of duty. But what does the citizenry without any political leanings have to say? What they say is important since they are under no compulsion to take sides. Indeed one may ask – Why is the swearing in of a Chief Minister of Assam so important at this juncture when the pandemic is raging there as well? One can understand the chief ministers of BJP ruled states like Tripura and Manipur having to toe the line since the BJP President JP Nadda was also present. But Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh chose not to attend. The Mizoram CM too did not attend. Conrad Sangma and Neiphiu Rio are the only two non-BJP CMs present.
The pandemic is raging in Meghalaya and all groups especially those that are well organised like the KSU, FKJGP, HYC, HNYF, etc., now need to offer their services to the different Dorbar Shnong they reside in. They cannot just be having a laundry list of demands. At this juncture let them show their organisational skills and pan out to ensure that returnees and those that test positive remain under confinement. Many other groups that I know of are doing their best to provide food to health workers in some hospitals and to the poorest at their homes. Many are rising to the occasion by donating to different causes because their logic is, “If Not Now, Then When; If Not Us Then Who?”
Tailpiece: The Government of Meghalaya would do well to have an online functioning public grievances cell so that people having genuine problems can inform the administration and not nurse their grouse. Any anxiety or frustration at this time will render the body’s immune system weaker and make people more vulnerable to Covid. One officer may be dedicated to handling that website and giving feedback to the Government so that the malfunction is addressed. Thank You in advance!