THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday criticised Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for making various claims and announcements in media only to deflect criticism and stated these don’t actually translate into saving lives or providing relief to the Goans.
State Convenor Rahul Mhambre allegedly accused the Chief Minister of only doing “headline management”.
He said the Chief Minister had claimed that oxygen quota of Goa has been increased by 20 MT, but such “allocation” is only on paper.
“Has the announced quota actually reached Goa? Has the oxygen been supplied to the hospitals? Most importantly, have people stopped dying due to oxygen shortage?” questioned Mhambre, repeating the party’s long-standing demand for an Oxygen Bulletin.
Regarding the Chief Minister’s announcement of “plans to put a cap on rates of private ambulances and hearse vans,” Mhambre said this is not the time to announce “plans” and added that the order for the same should be issued immediately if he is serious about it.
Referring to the complaints reported about private hospitals overcharging COVID patients, Mhambre said even in such important decisions the Chief Minister is only interested in ensuring the news of such decisions is printed, but does not actually follow up to see if the orders are being implemented.
Further, he demanded lowering of COVID treatment rates in private hospitals, adding that the cap was calculated based on the most expensive private hospitals, but now even less-expensive hospitals are charging the high rates “as per government orders”.
“Despite the announcement by the Chief Minister that the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY) scheme would cover COVID treatment in private hospitals, many of them are demanding huge advances for admission,” he allegedly claimed.
Mhambre said that as per his sources, the hospitals have had a bad experience with getting the government to reimburse expenses under the scheme even in non-COVID cases, and they have lost trust in the government.
