The Covid-19 horror story continues to haunt India as the Centre and several states find themselves short of both resources and answers to face the fresh surge in cases. The country recorded more than 3.5 lakh cases on Saturday, more than the total number of cases reported from several European countries in the past month. Four Congress-ruled states have already declared that they were short of vaccines and therefore not in any position to launch the drive for people above the age of 18 from next month. The Centre has claimed that there was a lot of rumour mongering going on regarding the efficacy of the vaccines and people should not give any credence to such gossip.
The ground reality is that India is facing an acute oxygen shortage with patients dying all over. The Union Government made a belated announcement that oxygen plants would be set up in all public hospitals with the money coming in from the PM-CARES Fund – a declaration which perhaps should have been made after the pandemic broke out last year. The lack of coordination and total panic among people have also made things extremely difficult and could easily create law and order troubles.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has extended the lockdown in the capital. thereby indicating that this may again get prolonged, if the situation does not improve by May 3. Kejriwal, being a former civil servant, has perfected the art of portraying things in such a manner that the blame is always on others. His bureaucratic grounding has taught him to first absolve himself of any responsibility and then take any measures. Secondly, while wearing the political hat, he knows how to embarrass his opponents by presenting a picture which shows them in poor light. The fact is that it is the sum total of mismanagement by the state governments and the Centre that has landed us in this soup. The lockdown is also terrible news for the economy with people being rendered jobless and losing their livelihoods. With the cost of living rising by the day, the money crunch could lead to food riots. For those who have taken loans from banks, the situation is extremely worrying. They have no way of meeting the EMIs with no money in their pocket.
India is in the middle of its worst medical crisis in years and the shocking thing is that no one is being either held accountable or answerable for this monumental mess. The extent of the pandemic is so vast, that once rural areas come under its impact, the death rates would multiply manifold. There is an urgent need to bring in specialists who should get full power to deal with this unfolding human tragedy. Hospitals which are using the disease to make quick money must also be warned of serious consequences. The country needs direction and not politics. Everything else can follow once this national emergency is over, possibly by the end of the year.