New Delhi: The callousness of Narendra Modi in handling Covid surge has now snatched away the crown from him of an effective workaholic Prime Minister of India who, as he continually claimed, stood for betterment and development of the country.
Now, gone in silence and unable to answer the simple questions of failing to augment the supply of medical oxygen in hospitals including the military ones, allowing unmasked people in recent elections rallies and not deferring the religious congregation of millions of naked saints for a holy dip in a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The most baffling is the delay in the distribution of the international Covid medical aid comprising medial oxygen cylinders and concentrators, Remdesivir injections, N-95 masks that are lying at Delhi airport’s cargo section for the last three days.
Crowned with the tag of a failed Prime Minister and most of the people gunning for his resignation for mishandling the present crisis, they are wondering how he failed to stop the export of vaccines and medicines to foreign soil.; his failure to timely procurement of supply of medical oxygen; and failure to speedily take action on States failing to set up more covid treatment facilities; failing to halt the construction of a new PM residence and turning blind eye to black Marketing of Covid medicines and injections – are some among a dozen of failures listed against Modi and the State Heads.
Failure disrupts life causing emotional anguish and distress. This was unfortunately seen by almost a billion adult Indians during the last two fortnights when the second wave of Covid ripped the already weak health structure causing a quarter-million deaths followed by an angry verbal retaliation against Modi who was uninstalled from the lofty image that he had built in the minds of a majority of people.
Unable to gauge the magnitude of the devastation that Covid infection would bring in, Modi and his ‘coterie of woefully brainless henchmen’ kept strategizing ways of becoming more powerful in the five States that were slated for hustings. As expected, Modi’s party, BJP, failed to win in three States. And to woo the Hindu community, the religious congregation of holy dip at the city of Haridwar (through which passes the Hindu revered holy river of Ganga) in dangerously Covid infected State of Uttar Pradesh was not postponed.
The self-styled dictatorial robes that Modi and his administrative partner Amit Shah (India’s Home Minister) donned while taking refuge in silence and being fully aware that short supply of medical oxygen was the main cause of Covid-infection surge, was not only disgusting but a display of insensitivity of country’s most powerful man towards its people.
The Indian judiciary rebuked the Centre for not supplying adequate supply of oxygen and threatened to initiate action against the erring officials of the Centre as the prevalent condition, it felt, was almost a national emergency. Both Modi and Amit Shah conveyed that efforts were on to augment ‘the oxygen supply on a war footing evolving and implementing innovative measures’. The measures as stated were not made public insinuating that Modi was not in a position to admit his failure.
The journey of millions of rupees in the Prime Minister Care fund (set up last year for containing and preparing for combatting the pandemic) was not disclosed even against a public petition filed in the court on the plea that the government cannot reveal.
Modi had drawn flak from all corners in the country for his failure to admit collapse of the healthy system and his inability to handle the country administratively well in the Covid surge crisis.
The foreign media has been vociferously alleging that the Covid surge could have been contained if Prime Minister Modi had taken stringent steps and concentrated on the issue rather than planning electoral strategies in the five Indian states.
The Indian print media has continually berated Modi for his insensitive attitude towards the Covid catastrophe. The social media has attracted brickbats for Modi and his team and rightly so, many bloggers allege.
A report in the Indian media has pointed out that as many as 1,36,000 Remdesivir injections, 3200 oxygen cylinders and over 5000 oxygen concentrators have been stacked and are awaiting a nod from the Indian health ministry for flight-lifting them to different States which are anxiously waiting for the ‘succour’.
Dr Nutan Mundeja, Director-General of Health Services, Delhi, was quoted in a news portal ‘Scroll.in’ saying ‘we have not received anything so far’.
No Indian State head claimed that they were aware of any relief medical supplies allocated to them. Supplies from Ireland, France and Uzbekistan had clearly marked the name of the States to which their supplies were meant to be delivered.
An India Red Cross spokesman R.K.Jain said that it duty was confined to getting consignments cleared through customs and it was the Indian Health Ministry that was responsible for the distribution of the international relief package.
