Covid failures must be publicly discussed

The report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, which was presented to the Rajya Sabha last week, has validated much of the criticism that has been made about the government’s handling of the Covid crisis, especially during the second wave of the pandemic last year. The committee has said that many lives could have been saved if the government had put in place the right containment strategies at the right time. It said that the second wave was marred by a high number of cases and deaths, shortage of oxygen and beds in hospitals, reduced supplies of drugs and other medical supplies, disruption of essential healthcare services, hoarding and black-marketing of cylinders and medicines, etc. It pulled up the government for not anticipating the gravity of the situation and for its failure to monitor the pandemic’s course. It said there was a “non-responsive attitude” to enhancing health infrastructure. There was a lack of transparency on many issues. The number of deaths and cases were grossly understated and there was a clear failure in the use of resources to handle the situation.

It was on these grounds that the government faced criticism from many quarters during and after the second wave. The critics included experts, the media, opposition parties, concerned citizens and organisations with good credentials within and outside the country. But representatives of the government and the ruling party outrightly denied any failing and dubbed all criticism as motivated and even anti-national. Claims were made that the country’s Covid management was the best in the world. On many of these matters, the states were also found to be as wanting as the Centre. The committee said it was unhappy to note that many states were unable to cope with the uncertainties and medical emergencies that the pandemic brought.

The government’s failures, as pointed out by the committee, should be discussed and analysed to ensure that effective measures are taken to avoid them in future. The committee’s report has a high level of credibility and will hopefully not be dismissed as an attempt to malign the government. It has made recommendations that should receive serious attention and should be acted upon. It has told the health ministry to audit the deaths during the second wave. The health infrastructure needs to be improved and shortages and inadequacies removed so that there will be better readiness to face similar crises in future. An examination of the handling of the pandemic in all its aspects will help to fix accountability for the failures. Such an exercise is necessary, and it is not too late to undertake it.