PANAJI: Union Ayush minister
Shripad Naik said on Saturday that since the police and state government are busy with
Covid management, some anti-social elements are taking the opportunity to engage in criminal activity.
Speaking to reporters, Naik said that the
law and order situation is under control, and that the state government is "taking care of it". He also said the government is working to provide better governance to the people of the state.
The past couple of months have seen a couple of heinous crimes, including the daylight murder of a jeweller in Margao, and the setting on fire of a person near Porvorim.
Naik also reacted sharply to
Congress targeting the government over its failure to maintain law and order, calling it a political move. "The opposition wants to take advantage of the situation to move ahead," he said.
He said the opposition should have supported the government during Covid, but they're only pointing out its mistakes.
Speaking on Mhadei, Naik said the government is trying its level-best to save it, but the matter is sub-judice. "This is not the time to fight each other, but to work together to protect the interest of the state," he said.
Naik also defended the state's Covid-19 mortality rate. "There is no rise in mortality rate in the state," he said.
When asked why VIPs get admitted to private hospitals (if tested positive), he said that it is not the case. "When I tested positive, there were no arrangements at
GMC, and that's why I was admitted to a private hospital," he said.
He said that when people learn that people recover quickly at private hospitals, they go to private hospitals too. "Now that there are good arrangements at GMC for Covid patients, the rush to private hospitals will stop," he said.