PANJIM: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday attacked the State government for ignoring the frontline warriors and driving them to the point of despair.
Dr Mariano Godinho, chief of AAP’s Medical Cell and former government health officer, expressed disgust at the state of affairs which led to the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) writing a letter to the Goa Medical College and Hospital Dean out of desperation.
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Reminding that the AAP had demanded more than 10 days back that the government should appoint a Nodal Officer exclusively to resolve the doctors’ issues expeditiously, Dr Godinho lamented that now both the doctors and patients are suffering more due to the government’s apathy.
Dr Godinho said that the damning letter exposes a lot of serious issues that were sought to be covered up by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, including the most serious issue of oxygen shortage.
“The Chief Minister needs to immediately investigate the claim that the patients have already lost their lives due to shortage of oxygen, and ensure that the problem is immediately fixed.”
On the issue of shortage of doctors, Dr Godinho suggested that the government immediately recruit MBBS graduates with one year of internship to relieve the current doctors who are being stretched beyond their human limits. He added that it was shameful that even basic demands for CCTV and security guards for their personal safety have not been met yet. On the contrary, the government is allowing their VIP friends to throw their weight around and make things even more difficult for the already beleaguered doctors.
Convenor Rahul Mhambre said that the Chief Minister being a doctor himself should volunteer at GMC COVID ward for just one day in order to understand the plight of the doctors revealed in the letter.
Mhambre demanded to know whether the Chief Minister can’t spare even a few crores out of the Rs 300 crore given by the Centre for Liberation Day festivities, to support COVID cause.
