Shillong, May 29: The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) said on Saturday that the NPP-led MDA government has failed to tackle the current Covid situation.
“The CLP deliberated upon the inputs received from different parts of the state on the handling of the Covid situation by the government which is wanting in all angles”, it said in a statement after a zoom meeting.
CLP leader Mukul Sangma chaired the meeting attended by Congress legislators.
The meeting reviewed the Covid situation in the state and the performance of the government in tackling the pandemic.
Concern over deaths
The CLP expressed concern over the alarming number of deaths of Covid patients in the state and the Shillong city in particular and attributed the primary reason to the government’s decision for home isolation of the Covid patients and various inadequacies in the hospitals to treat the patients.
“The government is not prepared with adequate infrastructures to provide support for critical Covid cases, like oxygen, ICUs and other related infrastructures to meet the requirements for treatment of Covid patients in the hospitals of the state”, the CLP said.
It also expressed its anguish over the delay to set up Covid Care Centres and fully equipped Covid hospitals throughout the state.
Ashas a neglected lot
The CLP noted with concern the neglect of the government towards the services rendered by the Ashas who are the first line of contact during the pandemic.
“The Ashas have been exhaustively attending to their duties without any incentives from the government. The CLP desires that the government acknowledges the services of all frontline workers and incentivise them adequately”, she said.
Dismay over Rs 50k ex gratia
The CLP also expressed its dismay over the decision of the government to provide ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the family of the deceased due to Covid.
“The CLP feels that since this pandemic is already declared as a national disaster, the state government should treat every death of a Covid patient as part of the disaster and hence provide the ex-gratia as per the provision of the law duly notified under the National Disaster Management Act.
The CLP noted that the community isolation centres set up by traditional heads in their respective localities are gaining positive response and many patients are in the process of being isolated from their families.
“The CLP desires that the government should support these centres with financial assistance for logistics”, it said.
Pressure on city hospitals
The CLP pointed out that many Covid patients from other districts are being referred to the hospitals in Shillong due to the poor infrastructure of the district hospitals, CHCs and PHCs in the adjoining district headquarters thus putting a pressure on the availability of beds in the city hospitals.
The CLP asked the government to immediately ramp up the health care facilities in other districts and make each health care centre in the districts and subdivisions functional including placement of manpower for both Covid and non-Covid patients.
Team to inspect care centres
It was decided that the Congress legislators will inspect the Corona care centres and the health facility centres in every district from next week to find out the facilities that the government has provided to these hospitals and the deficiencies.
