Dr. Navjot Singh Dahiya
Indian Medical Association (IMA) Vice President Dr. Navjot Singh Dahiya on April 24, 2021 lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a statement for continuing with political rallies in poll-bound states while tossing aside all Covid-19 guidelines.
“While the medical fraternity is trying hard to make people understand Covid norms, like social distancing, PM Modi did not hesitate to address big political rallies in the poll-bound state, tossing all Covid norms in the air”, said Dr Dahiya referencing Modi’s rallies in West Bengal.
Condemning Modi as a ‘failed Prime Minister,’ who rather than curbing the rise of Coronavirus cases allegedly emerged as the “super spreader,” Dr. Dahiya condemned the central government for allowing Kumbh Mela activities at a time when the second Covid-19 wave is taking thousands of lives. He recollected a similar situation in 2020 when the central government organised a gathering of over one lakh persons in Gujarat to welcome former US President Donald Trump. This year again, the government failed to prepare the health sector for the resurgence in Coronavirus cases.
“In 2020… when the first patient of Corona was found in India, Modi, instead of making arrangements to fight Corona, preferred to organise the gathering… to welcome the then US President Donald Trump… Now when the second wave of Covid-19 is yet to reach its peak, the entire health system is failing as he did not take any step to strengthen it during the entire year,” he said.
Dr. Dahiya also criticised the Centre for promoting Baba Ramdev’s ‘Coronil,’ that was disclaimed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a day after its announcement. He argued that rather than such actions, the government should look into the lack of oxygen. Many oxygen-production related projects are still pending with the government which could have helped alleviate the situation.
“The scarcity of medical oxygen has become the reason for deaths of many patients in every part of India against the fact that several projects for producing oxygen were still pending with the Union government for clearance,” said Dahiya.
The Vice President said that a person only needs to look at local crematoria and long lines at the hospital to understand the severity of the situation. Accordingly, he also blamed Modi for the huge gathering of farmers at Delhi border, who would have vacated the area if the Centre had listened to their grievances.
“Even on the issue of farmers’ agitation against farm laws, Modi did not act in a responsible manner and allowed a huge gathering of farmers… causing a serious threat of Covid spread,” he said.
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