Woeful virus situation dampens celebration mood
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 09, 2021 -

HAD it not been for the Covid-induced hardships being resiliently faced by the people, the induction of first time MP Dr Ranjan Singh in the council of ministers of Union government as a minister of state for external affairs and education would have been celebrated wildly in the state.

That a parliamentarian from tiny Manipur sealing berth in the Union cabinet after nearly two decades is not an ordinary achievement as could be gauged from the fact that it is very rare for the northeast region to have a representative in the country's elite policy making body.

Dr Ranjan's induction might be a strategic move by the BJP ahead of the upcoming state assembly election to woo the voters and give bragging rights to the party but presence of highly qualified new faces in the Union cabinet demonstrates that the Modi government is determined to bring positive changes in governance.

Having faced strong criticisms from the medical fraternity as well as the opposition parties that had been citing administrative incompetency for the calamitous consequences from the Covid-19 pandemic, the BJP-led government seems to have taken a firm resolve to govern without any further blemishes in the future banking on the technocratic and entrepreneurial wisdom of the new faces.

As the number of Council of Ministers stands at 77, the highest under Modi's tenure, coupled with the new cabinet having representatives from diverse regions, the citizens would now be looking forward for a flawless administration and lead the country towards a position of repute in the global context as was promised from the first term itself.

Nevertheless, for the people of Manipur the primary concern should be on how the Centre guides the state to wriggle out of the distressful situation arising out of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Apart from expressing grave concern over the consistent rate of daily infection and deaths of Covid patients, the masses would be hoping that the Union government would issue strong instructions to the state government to stringently follow the virus prevention and containment measures to tackle the pandemic.

With Manipur recording weekly positivity rate of 12.9 per cent in between June 28 and July 4 and eight out of 16 districts reporting positivity rate of more than 10 per cent, it is obvious that the induction of Dr Ranjan wouldn't make much of a difference unless the contagion could be brought under control by any means.

As advised by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) secretary Rajesh Bhushan to chief secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar on Tuesday the state government should waste no time to monitor the weekly case positivity rate and identify any early warning signals of spread of infection.

In view of the health ministry suggesting proactive steps to flatten the infection curve as well as plan and implement effective containment measures, the daily government bulletins claiming initiation of prompt contact tracing of close contacts of positive cases and immediate isolation of all suspected and confirmed cases seem to be merely a formality but without actual execution of the basics of tackling the pandemic.