WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024
Altaf Shah
Just a couple of days back, Congress MP, K C Venugopal tabled a simple question in the Parliament, inquiring about the deaths due to shortage of oxygen, during the second wave of Covid. The response from the Union Minister of State for Health, Dr Pravin Bharti Pawar was that all news about deaths due to shortage of oxygen were fake and there were no casualties at all owing to this reason.
Like many others, I too wonder, then who were those people demanding oxygen cylinders, ventilators and beds, the images of the relatives and friends of the sick which were continuously being shown by the print, electronic and social media, asking for help. Can you imagine the state of the loved ones of those who died due to shortage of oxygen cylinders by this statement?
It was an attack on their sentiments when the Prime Minister stated that there were no deaths due to shortage of oxygen and the Health Ministry which issued a written statement that there was never any shortage of oxygen cylinders.
Contrary to their statements, our very own Health Minister in Goa issued a statement on May 12, 2021 that there were deaths in GMC due to shortage of oxygen. There was news again on May 16 stating that 83 people died in the GMC from May 12 to May 16 owing to shortage of oxygen.
Who is accountable, who is responsible for this mess? Will we again see the same circus of the State Government shifting the blame to the Centre which in turn shifts the blame on the state or probably go a step further and blame the public for having co-morbidities or coming in late for treatment or not vaccinating themselves.
Adding insult to injury is the non-stop heaping of praises on the Health Ministry and the Centre for the handling of the Covid crisis without giving thought to loved ones of those who succumbed to Covid owing to shortage of oxygen or beds. The Government in its official statement has confirmed around 4.25 lakh Covid affected people who died, although unofficial estimates are at 43 -47 lakhs, a considerable number of which succumbed, owing to shortage of oxygen.
As human beings, we make mistakes, but the irony is we justify the same even if it is a blunder. I may be affiliated to a political ideology but does that mean, that I will accept every justification and not question them? We are aware about the problems between the Central government and State Governments not ruled by the Centre. Their differences don’t let them lose a single opportunity to score brownie points over each other by pinpointing each other’s weak spots. Why can’t we see a better State-Centre coordination instead of only witnessing their confrontations? Why don’t we hear a political party apologize saying ‘yes, we goofed up’? How long are we going to see politics over the dead bodies of the helpless public of the country?
It's time we as citizens start asking some tough questions to the administration and the political party we acknowledge ourselves with, and not accepting any rubbish which comes our way, just like this one.
