Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, May,24
Despite rural areas becoming the hot beds of corona pandemic, the govt had miserably failed to provide the much needed infrastructure in the vast hinterland of J&K which inhabited 3/4th of the population. Several deaths occurring in remote areas, reportedly due to ‘fever’ and ‘chest diseases’ had stoked fears that corona was raging unseen in the villages with a hapless administration failing to deal with the grim situation. With majority of the rural areas facing chronic deficiency of doctors, paramedicos and other medical equipments, the govt had failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation of providing appropriate healthcare to its citizens particularly those residing in the villages with hardly any measures taken to prevent the spread of corona in such areas or to even conduct the testing of suspected patients.
The belated scrambling and skewed priorities of the govt functionaries had aggravated the woes of hinterland that faced an imminent threat of explosion of the deadly pandemic. The rural areas suffered neglect not only in health sector but were worst victims of mal-governance of the current regime”. This was stated by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman-JKNPP and former Minister. He was distributing ration and other relief to poor and marginalized sections during his tour of villages Pinger and Bainsta of Ramnagar constituency. He was accompanied by Mrs. Manju Singh General Secretary of the Panthers Party.
Mr. Singh regretted that with hardly any corona testing or helpline centres in the rural and remote areas, the panic stricken people were simply being cautioned by the administration to stay indoors. While the govt had failed to address rural health care issues, the existing dispensaries and other health centres had become defunct in majority of the villages which faced chronic deficiency of staff and other essential drugs and equipments.
He said that provision of five beds in Panchayats in the name of Covid care centre was a futile exercise without providing any health staff therein to take care of patients.
Mr. Singh asserted that not only had the workforce suffered adversity due to the ongoing pandemic but their woes stood compounded by the sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities including pulses, vegetables and other articles of daily use. The raging inflation during the current crisis had posed the most menacing threats to the very survival of the marginalized sections with the little savings whatsoever of majority of rural poor having been exhausted during the last one year.
There were reports of several households having cut down their food intake to cope with the situation arising due to loss of livelihood and damage to crops. He said that NPP shall ensure that no one sleeps hungry during corona pandemic.
Calling upon the helmsmen to come to the succour of the poor and marginalized population of the country and J&K in particular, Mr. Singh said that huge funds raised under PM’s Cares Fund needed to be utilized to save the vulnerable sections from starvation and other adverse fallouts of the deadly pandemic.
