New Delhi: The Congress Party on Saturday hit out on the ruling dispensation on the Centre over an editorial revealed within the medical journal, The Lancet which mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities appeared extra intent on eradicating criticism on Twitter than attempting to regulate the Covid pandemic.
Stating The Lancet has mentioned that India is transferring in the direction of a self-created nationwide catastrophe and never a nationwide catastrophe, Congress chief Ajay Maken mentioned it’s estimated that round 10 lakh folks will succumb to the virus by August.
“This means more than seven lakh people will lose their lives in the next 80 days,” he added.
Maken mentioned the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written a letter demanding the removing of Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
“The IMA has also demanded a two-week national lockdown besides asking for everyone to be vaccinated,” he added.
Maken mentioned the Congress has raised these issued repeatedly earlier than the federal government however in useless.
“Be it The Lancet or IMA, these things are already being said by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party again and again but it is not making any difference to the government. A malicious reply was given to (former prime minister) Manmohan Singh’s letter. At least the government should accept the suggestions of the IMA and The Lancet while giving them credit,” he added.
Congress chief Karti Chidambaram questioned whether or not the BJP-led Central Government will be taught from this editorial or will it as normal dismiss and condemn the internationally acclaimed publication.
“@TheLancet damns the @narendramodi Govt, lays naked the utter failure of the self obsessed regime. Will the @BJP4India Govt be taught from this editorial or will it as normal dismiss & condemn the internationally acclaimed publication?” he tweeted.
Senior Congress chief and former union minister Jairam Ramesh on his half took a jibe on the Centre.
“The government’s drumbeaters used editorials of the most prestigious Lancet to shower themselves with praise earlier,” he tweeted.
Slamming the Centre for ignoring second wave of the coronavirus, the editorial titled ‘India’s COVID-19 emergency’ mentioned Prime Minister Modi’s “actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis are inexcusable”.
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Quoting The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see a staggering 1 million deaths from COVID-19 by August 1, the editorial mentioned: “If that outcome were to happen, Modi’s Government would be responsible for presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe. India squandered its early successes in controlling COVID-19. Until April, the government’s COVID-19 taskforce had not met in months.”
“The consequences of that decision are clear before us, and India must now restructure its response while the crisis rages. The success of that effort will depend on the government owning up to its mistakes, providing responsible leadership and transparency, and implementing a public health response that has science at its heart,” the editorial added.
In an obvious reference to the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and the recently-concluded meeting elections, the editorial mentioned: “The impression from the government was that India had beaten COVID-19 after several months of low case counts, despite repeated warnings of the dangers of a second wave and the emergence of new strains. Modelling suggested falsely that India had reached herd immunity, encouraging complacency and insufficient preparation, but a serosurvey by the Indian Council of Medical Research in January suggested that only 21% of the population had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.”
“At times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic,” the editorial added.
The editorial additionally pointed fingers at India’s vaccination programme.
“The message that COVID-19 was essentially over also slowed the start of India’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which has vaccinated less than 2% of the population. At the federal level, India’s vaccination plan soon fell apart. The government abruptly shifted course without discussing the change in policy with states, expanding vaccination to everyone older than 18 years, draining supplies, and creating mass confusion and a market for vaccine doses in which states and hospital systems competed,” the editorial mentioned.
The editorial additionally criticized the Centre’s complacency in tackling the disaster whereas highlighting the well being infrastructure in the meanwhile.
“The scenes of suffering in India are hard to comprehend. As of May 4, more than 20·2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported, with a rolling average of 378 000 cases a day, together with more than 222 000 deaths, which experts believe are likely to be substantial underestimates. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and health workers are exhausted and becoming infected. Social media is full of desperate people (doctors and the public) seeking medical oxygen, hospital beds, and other necessities. Yet before the second wave of cases of COVID-19 began to mount in early March, Indian Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan declared that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic,” the editorial mentioned.
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