NPF fires salvo at PDA govt.

Dimapur, April 14 (EMN): Following the detection of a person from Nagaland being tested positive for Covid-19, the opposition party, Naga People’s Front (NPF), found ample ammunition to target the PDA government, accusing it of “ineptness, lack of knowledge, lethargy and wavering political leadership” even though it received cooperation from various quarters and huge funds from Delhi to fight against Covid menace.

“The recent media reports on the conditions of state’s health infrastructures, diagnostics labs, para medical equipment, and inadequate safety measures for health workers have enormously proved that the government is not doing enough,” NPF press bureau stated.

Disproving the tall claims of PDA government that the state was well prepared to combat Covid-19 pandemic, NPP stated that frontline workers are at risk due to inferior quality of protective materials. It claimed that Covid doctors have resolved not to attend patients without quality PPE kits.

The party said that Nagaland had received its first instalment of INR 20.50 crore under the State Disaster Response and Mitigation Fund (SDRMF) for the year 2020-21, and that Ministry of Finance had released INR 32641.66 lakh as grants-in-aid on April 3. The state government had also said it would use 25 percent of the total amount for Covid-19 crisis.

In spite of all these funds, if responsible people neglect the health sector that cost lives, the government of the day will be held accountable to the victims and citizens, NPF warned.

It demanded that the government set up a control room to monitor supply of essential commodities as there have been complaints of disruption of supply of essential commodities in many far-flung areas. It also stated that all the essential commodities to the respective headquarters and destinations should also be checked of any contagion under strict supervision of medical experts lest virus transmit from people-to-people.

NPF further urged the government to make certain arrangement to let stranded students and travellers reach their villages.