Naga People’s Front upset over government’s handling of Covid-19 situation

Dimapur, June 22 (EMN): The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has expressed anguish over the way the PDA government handles the Covid-19 situation and advised it to address the hardship the public while taking decision on enforcing lockdown.

In a press communique, the party stated that the ‘government cannot just merely sit and wait for the positivity rate to decrease but put effort to bring it down’, while citing Health minister Pangnyu Phom’s recent statement that ‘lockdown would continue until the positivity rate of Covid-19 comes down to 5% as per the guideline of the Central government’.

It also asked on what basis the Centre had directed 5% positivity rate as the benchmark for lifting the lockdown.

The NPF asserted that till the government augment medical facilities in all district hospital, CHC and PHC where acute shortage of manpower such has been reported, positivity rate can’t be expected to drop. It also accused the government of misusing the state fund in the name of pandemic.

While lauding the state government over the purchase of ‘pulse oximeter’, it questioned the “exorbitant rate” the equipment were procured. It added that each district would receive 200 pieces of pulse oximeter for INR 40 lakh allegedly spent on it.

It said the government should immediately attend to other medical equipment besides the pulse oximeter and went on to warn that it should be held accountable for use of funds.