By Gyan Pathak
Oh! The unkindest cut of all. When we have fallen to the worst of our suffering, our beloved prime minister Narendra Modi rubs salt on our miseries, tells we alone are responsible. However, being victims to his arrogating foolhardy policies, we know, we have been exposed to peril. He is now shifting is responsibility faster than even the second wave of COVID-19. The responsibility that could not be borne by the centre with far more power and resources, is being shifted to states and the common people even when one knows, bearing them is beyond their capacity.
Without examples, the preceding paragraph may reduce to mere allegation. Therefore, one is compelled to enumerate at least few of them, which are to be handled at the highest level, perhaps at the level of the Prime Minister himself, and in no case is to be handled by the states or the people. The most glaring example is the shortfall of vaccines and the faulty policy of administering the doses to the people and the very objective of the same.
If there is a shortfall of vaccines, as reported by several states of the country, it was mainly due to inability of the vaccine producing companies to produce them in required quantity. The companies in turn could not enhance their production level because they did not have sufficient resources, both in terms of finance and raw material. There was export ban on raw material in the USA and the Centre was not sufficiently helping the vaccine manufacturer in terms of finance. Who is then at fault? Not less than the PM and the policies being implemented under his strict supervision. Covering up the faults and inabilities at the highest level was then become the centre of the entire vaccination drive and accordingly rules were framed. Age base criteria were made for so called prioritization full of shortcomings, which ultimately failed to tame the spread of the pandemic. It would be worth reminding that the government have all along been saying the primary objective was to prevent deaths and overwhelming of health infrastructure, not taming the ‘spread of the pandemic’. The policy exposed us to peril on account of spread of the pandemic, death, and overwhelming of health infrastructure.
The most recent example is the announcement of the latest modification in the vaccine policy, which has been effected after several modifications to the original faulty vaccination policy. States were demanding larger quantity of vaccine doses from the centre because these were being allotted under strict supervision of the centre. When Modi government failed to supply the same in sufficient quantities, it announced that the government would release its 50 per cent doses to the open market from where states can directly procure. The question is when the centre itself is unable to procure the required quantity due to production constraint, how can states would be able to procure the same?
PM Modi shifted his responsibility, mathematically 50 per cent, from his head, by this decision. Centre’s financial burden would thus be reduced 50 per cent, while it would be shifted to multifold to states and the people, because the manufacturers of the vaccines would be free to decide on their price. It has already been reported that the released 50 per cent vaccine would cost at least three times more to the state and the people, making room for profiteering for the manufacturing companies. It should be noted that manufacturing companies were demanding more financial resources from the centre to enhance their level of production, and in the bargain Modi’s government shed its responsibility to help them out from their financial crunch and allowed them to profiteering by monetizing their 50 per cent of production. It is a public loot and one wonders how it is not injustice to allow selling a product at different rates to different people?
The decision of 50 per cent is arbitrary also, and one wonders how the government came to this figure, at a time when people have lost their jobs, extreme poverty level has sharply increased, and majority of people have little money to spend. Since only 50 per cent of the vaccines would now be available in centre’s pool, there would be long queue for getting vaccinated free of cost. It would ultimately hamper the vaccination targets exposing common people for longer time to the perils of COVID-19. The moneyed people above the age of 18 and below 45 are made eligible to get jabs in the private where the same age group without money could not go. This exclusion is made because they don’t have money, and they could not get jabs in government’s facilities because priority there would be to above 45 years of age.
How then common people are blamed for being exposed to COVID-19 and getting infected? PM has reminded them of their violation of covid-appropriate behaviour. PM is not totally wrong in his allegation, but one can ask him who had declared that India had won the corona battle and is being praised by the world? Has this statement of his government not responsible for generating a false sense of winning corona battle? Moreover, PM addressed large number of political gathering with no covid appropriate behaviour in the day is a state, and in the evening addressing the country and telling people to following covid appropriate behaviour. Who is responsible for his political gathering if he is not? People were exposed to his super spreader events and in his audacity he is blaming people as if they only are responsible for allowing them to gather without proper protection from the virus?
Now come to the health infrastructure. If there is a shortfall of medical oxygen in the country, who is responsible? The centre is handling the situation. Despite shortage of oxygen in the first wave of COVID-19, his government took precious 8 months to make tenders for oxygen plants in hospitals, and they are still not working in all the places. The centre took almost a year to decide on import of medical oxygen. If it does not reach hospitals in time whose fault it is?
Now come to the states. They are being blamed for not having sufficient health infrastructure. When all the revenue are being collected by the centre barring a few sources, how the PM expects them to arrange for everything without giving them more financial resourced in time? In his latest address to the nation he has appealed the states to assure the migrant workers to secure their lives and livelihoods. If he really wants the states to do why he is not allowing the states like Maharashtra and Delhi who are requesting him to allow them to use National Disaster Fund or any other central fund to give assistance and relief to urban poor and migrant labour?
It is true that there have been laxity on the part of people and lapses on the part of some states, but they cannot be put forward as only reasons for the present worst condition that too with a view to conceal the faults of Modi government at the highest level which have been arrogated on the people of this country to their ruin. (IPA Service)
