हिंदी
Situation worsening in Punjab due to pandemic, mortality rate out of control
In last 70 years, Akalis and Congress deteriorated health facilities in Punjab
Chandigarh, May 16 , 2021
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema said that the people in villages and towns of Punjab were dying with Covid-19 but the Congress was busy fighting the battle for seats. He said that the ruling Congress government had nothing to do with the people of Punjab as one was fighting to save his seat, while the other four were fighting to get his seat. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Sunday, Harpal Singh Cheema said that due to the incompetence of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Covid had spread to the villages and towns of Punjab. He said that the outbreak of Covid appears to be exacerbated in Punjab.
Cheema said that it was the responsibility of the Captain government to make arrangements and treat the victims to prevent the spread of Covid pandemic in the villages, but the government had failed miserably in fulfilling its responsibilities. “About 70 per cent of dispensaries have no doctors and no medicines. In such a situation where will the villagers get treatment?” he said, adding that the people of Punjab had lost faith in government hospitals as they felt that if they went to government hospitals for treatment of Covid, they would come back as corpses. He said that the government hospitals had no doctors, no nurses, no paramedical staff and no life support system.
The AAP leader further said that the private hospitals had been fleecing the patients in such dire conditions. “Some private hospitals are charging people Rs 70,000 a day in the name of Covid treatment, which is an economic robbery of the common man,” said Cheema. He said that every day, the family members of those who died with Covid were lodging complaints with the police against private hospitals in one place or another, but the police use the pretext of conducting an investigation to disperse the victims.
Taking a dig at Captain Amarinder Singh, Cheema alleged that the Captain government had not fixed any fee for the treatment of Covid victims in the state. He said that the government had no control over the private hospitals and had abandoned the poor to die. Cheema said that the ruling Congress government was not paying attention to the safety and treatment of the people but the ministers and leaders of Captain Amarinder Singh were fighting among themselves to save their chairs. He said that instead of conflicting with each other, the government needs to strengthen the healthcare system in the state.
