Vasco: Goencho Avaaz demanded an independent public enquiry to scrutinise and assess the Goa government’s response and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Following the High Court statement last month about the Goa government being guilty of violating Article 21 of the constitution by failing to protect life due to criminal negligence, the enquiry should shed more light on what went wrong and the true extent of the government’s mismanagement of the pandemic,” said a press release from Goencho Avaaz.
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“Goans will never forget the abysmal way in which the COVID-19 pandemic was handled under Pramod Sawant and Vishwajit Rane’s watch. Governments should not forget that they are accountable to the people that they are meant to serve and that a report card of their performance is important. Nobody is above the law. People need to understand what went wrong and why innocent lives were lost needlessly. The findings of the study should also serve as learning to avoid future needless disasters,” added president Swapnesh Sherlekar.
“Therefore we are asking for the following aspects to fall under the remit of the enquiry that is the accuracy in the reportage of daily fatalities and positive cases, The oxygen shortage at GMC, which led to so many needless deaths, the reasons behind a green zone that was clear of COVID-19 suddenly transforming into a hot-bed of the virus,” the release said further.
Convenor Captain Viriato Fernandes stated, “A commission has to be put in place, comprising independent and objective experts to conduct due diligence into the inertia of the government as the second wave surged. It is high time that the guilty should be punished”.
