The Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) on Monday accused the Nagaland government of failing to handle the Covid-19 situation effectively.
“It is discouraging to note that the People’s Democratic Alliance Government is unable to handle the pandemic effectively,” the party said in a statement.
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It said though the PDA government keeps claiming that it is fully prepared to tackle the pandemic, there is hardly anything worth the name on the ground in the health sector, especially on Covid-related facilities.
Even the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima and Dimapur civil hospital, which should have been sufficient by now to cater to the needs of the Covid patients going by the government’s version, still lack the required facilities, the NPF said.
The party provided a list of various government hospitals where there is an acute shortage of basic medical facilities contrary to the claim of the government on its preparedness to tackle Covid-19.
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It said the pandemic hit the whole world, including Nagaland, by early part of 2020 and it was expected of the government to gear up at least after a gap of one year even though it could not tackle it in the initial period of the outbreak.
The party said the State government should have taken all possible steps after experiencing the first wave rather than running from pillar to post without any sense of direction to contain the pandemic. The NPF urged the government to provide the basic and immediate requirements in all the government-run hospitals in all the districts without delay in order to effectively combat the pandemic.
“It is indeed unethical on the part of the present government to keep extending the lockdown without any relief measures for its citizens especially the daily wage earners,” it stated.
The party is of the view that lockdown can be enforced if at all required but it should not be for a very long duration. It appears that the present government is least bothered about the hardships faced by its citizens because of the lockdown, it said.
Appreciating the efforts of the frontline workers, especially the medical fraternity, in tackling the pandemic, the NPF urged the government to look into the welfare of the frontline workers and the people of the State living below the poverty line as they are the most affected because of the statewide lockdown.