Union Finance minister Nirmal Sitharaman's husband Dr. Parakala Prabhakar hits out at the central government on his weekly blog 'Midweek matters' for mishandling COVID crisis, NewsSting reported.
Critizing the central government for being "numb, insensitive and heartless" towards the colossal tragedy that is unfolding due to the second wave of COVID-19, he stated: "Prime Minister's popularity and communication skills seem to indemnify the incompetence and heartlessness of this government. They could ride out the anger of the visuals of migrant laborers because of numbing. But popularity and political capital have a habit of running out without giving notice. Numbing will not last forever. Compassion, transparency, empathy will last. PM should exercise his choice at least for now."
Further he went on to tell how the country is underreporting the actual number of deaths and cases, quoting, "Deaths are underreported. Cases too are underreported. Doctors tell us that situation is grave. Testing too has broken down. Hospitals and lab capacities are overwhelmed. Footage of ambulances with patients outside hospitals, dozens of bodies being burnt at crematoriums, scores of stretchers doubling up as hospital beds and relatives wailing are choking our social media timelines," he said.
Hitting out at political and religious leaders for being "unmindful of this agony", he said it is elections and religious resurrection that matters for them, not the public health or people's lives.
He quoted, "For political leaders, elections are important. For religious leaders, renaissance of religious identity is important. Public health or people's lives matter little for them. Our television channels show people being mobilized for rallies. PM, union ministers, CMs, opposition leaders, and dense gathering of people at Kumb Mela. After the damage is done, religious leaders said Mela hereafter will be symbolic. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced the cancelation of rallies. TMC and BJP continue rallies with flagrant violation of COVID protocols."
Dr. Prabhakar lashed out at those who justified rallies and Kumb Mela. "It is disgusting to hear. They often say our rate of infection is less. They resort to heartless country comparisons and selective comparisons. Even cross-country comparisons of are flawed. We are much higher than Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. This is something we need to ponder about," he said.
He also mentioned that lockdowns are not the solution but means to pause the virus until vaccine and medical infrastructure is available .
Dr. Prabhakar also stressed on vaccinating 70 percent of people excluding pregnant women and children to fight COVID .
