Bhubaneswar: The state unit of BJP Tuesday lambasted the Odisha government for its alleged failure to combat Covid-19 in Ganjam district and its handling of frontline workers there.
Addressing a presser here, Tuesday, Odisha BJP spokesperson Bhrugu Buxipatra accused the state government of poor management of the disease in Ganjam district and claimed that many frontline workers in the district are deprived of adequate safety gears.
“The rising cases and deaths in Ganjam are reflective of the poor policies of the government. The government has failed to take the advice and help from medical experts and others. Rather some select IAS officers are taking all decisions leading to such fiasco,” he said.
He also added, “A number of frontline workers like ASHA workers and others are deprived of PPE kits and safety gears. Many such workers have exposed themselves to the disease and contracted the virus while working for the government. Some of them died too in the war against Covid due to government apathy.”
The BJP demanded adequate beds in Covid hospitals and amplified testing of the community.
“The government had talked about serological survey in Ganjam. However, it is yet to begin. It has only 20 beds in ICUs and 20 ventilators. The testing there is also less. We demand at least 5,000 sample tests a day in Ganjam alone and more beds in Covid hospitals,” he said.
He also accused the state government of running the governance on Twitter rather than getting on board other experts and stakeholders in the fight against Covid-19.
The leader also said that not a single village is sanitised during the shutdowns and termed the shutdowns as futile exercise if sanitisation and mass tests are not done during such times.
“If a single village could not be sanitised during shutdowns, then what is the purpose of such shutdowns? People are being deprived of essential commodities and services,” he added.
The leader of the saffron party also expressed concern over the deaths of journalists in Ganjam and urged the state government to consider hiking the compensation paid to the kin of deceased journalists to Rs 50 lakh.