Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government’s community health survey has come under severe criticism from the Opposition that has come together questioning Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant’s wisdom behind allowing the risky exercise.
Opposition leader Digambar Kamat has requested the Chief Minister to reconsider the decision and Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai apprehends it would be a ‘doorstep delivery of COVID-19’.
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“I urge CM to reconsider the decision of ‘community survey’ and take pro-active steps to start ‘community testing & screening’ to control further spread of Coronavirus. Give PPEs to all frontline workers and provide hospitals with ventilators, equipment and medicines,” Kamat tweeted.
Sardesai, who also raised strong objection to the upcoming drive, took a step further by writing to Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik to stop the door-to-door survey. “Door-to-door survey will be doorstep delivery of COVID-19. Stop it ASAP (as soon as possible),” he said giving ‘positive alternative suggestions’.
In his earlier tweet, the then deputy CM apprehended transmission risk through the survey. Instead, he suggested, that Goa government follow Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s 5Ts to fight COVID-19. “Goa Govt’s (government) door-to-door survey is a piecemeal approach, fraught with transmission risks. Govt’s exact action plan unclear. As progressive and forward thinking Goenkars, GFP expects comprehensive and concrete action plan like one based on 5Ts released by Arvind Kejriwal government,” he wrote.
As pressure continues to mount on the government to roll back its decision, Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte also launched an attack on the health survey. He too expressed fear that the exercise could be riskier for the field staff as well as residents. He opined that any sort of interaction during the pandemic is not advisable. “Teachers, BLOs, talathis, etc, being made to do this survey are putting their own lives at risk and also run the risk of being vectors while going from house-to-house,” he said.
Khaunte supported Sardesai’s suggestion to follow Delhi CM’s action plan and demanded to stop the survey. “Delhi CM’s model of clinics can be easily replicated in Goa. If there is ever a time for government to go beyond political differences and act in the interest of people, it is now!” he tweeted.
Concerned citizens have also taken to Twitter seeking to know if the government has followed the Ministry of Health’s guidelines. One of them Vaibhav Vaingankar questioned the poor quality of masks to the field staff. Another Sid Kholkar mentioned about non-medical staff wearing only masks to conduct the survey.
The Chief Minister, who appeared unfazed with concerns raised by the cross sections of the society, has denied there are any risks to people. He went on to state that the exercise is not a political decision but taken in consultation with a medical team.
Meawhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also questioned the government’s intention to expose thousands of field staff and lakhs of citizens to potential transmission of coronavirus, through the survey.
AAP leader Valmiki Naik, said that going through the details of the mechanism and the teams constituted, it appears that the effort is a data-gathering exercise by government machinery that is normally used for election purposes.
“The Bhilwara model was a response to a specific threat of community spread of coronavirus in certain hotspots. The effort was not just a data-gathering survey, but included health screening and even testing. The teams constituted for the Bhilwara was made of health workers, not election workers,” Naik said.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar also questioned non-medical staff involved for the exercise.
“Community Survey involving 7000 non-medical staff, covering around 3.75 lakhs households in the name of coronavirus appears to be voter data collection exercise for 2022 Assembly Election by exposing Goa’s entire population to Covid19. @goacm must withdraw his decision,” Chodankar tweeted.
