Dharamshala: Senior Congress leader GS Bali lashed out at the government for its negligence and unplanned decisions that have seen the COVID-19 pandemic spread vigorously in the state making Himachal the worst affected state in the country.
“The situation on the ground is obvious to anyone who goes through the COVID-19 data of the country and yet chief minister Jai Ram Thakur dismisses it as propaganda of the Congress party,” said Bali.
The congressman was expressing his concern about the fast spread of the pandemic in the state.
“When public rallies were being staged to demonstrate the power of the ruling party in the state, crowds were randomly assembled even though we as the opposition had cautioned the ruling party to act responsibly. The government should have refrained from creating conditions where coronavirus could spawn easily, he said.
At a time when it was critical to maintain strong safeguards to keep the situation under control, the government relaxed the norms with the chief minister himself saying that we in Himachal are better than the rest of the states. But the situation has suddenly escalated out of control, mainly due to the negligence of the ruling party,” said Bali.
Critical of the decisions taken by the government, he said that they were taken in a haste with studying the ground situation. “The government overturns its own decisions and orders daily, sometimes within hours, and the administrative staff and the people who have to implement and abide by the orders are often left confused, he said.
The Congress leader said that the government had completely failed in containing the pandemic and was without any basis blaming the general public and the opposition for it.
“The government should pay attention to the measures to save people on a war footing. Every life matters and the government has to care for it,” said Bali.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
