Once again, the High Court has come to the rescue directing the State government to make the Covid-negative certificate mandatory for travellers and to provide real-time information to the public about beds, oxygen, ventilators and ICU facilities. The government has also been directed to provide police protection around hospitals.
In a pandemic, and especially when people are put through an uncertain time, the least that can be expected from any government is transparency. People want legislators or administrators to be truthful about the situation at hand. Citizens need to be well informed about the options and healthcare facilities available. What the health ministry has provided is a skeletal data on Covid care centres while keeping the critical area of availability of ICU beds, ventilators and oxygen out of bounds. An illusion of well-being was created when the entire healthcare sector was crippled.
The court’s directive on a mandatory Covid certification for visitors has exposed the insensitivity of the government to the situation which has put economics and tourism ahead of the heavy toll the virus has taken on lives. Better late than never, the court directives will bring some sort of reassurance to the anguished common citizen who has been tormented and torn apart. It will bring in a sense of security to the frontline warriors who have been consistently facing threats and risks to their lives from families of patients, not for their failures, but because of a failed system.
It is the prime duty of every elected government to guard the life of its people at all costs. Tourism, economics, development and entertainment are far secondary in a pandemic. So also, the government holds the responsibility to safeguard frontline warriors who are doing yeoman service in a crisis. All the photo-ops and ambitious announcements would be a failure if it doesn't serve the cause of common citizens and healthcare workers.
The government’s mismanagement of the Covid situation is as clear as daylight. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant still owes an answer to the people of Goa on why he chose to waive off entry restrictions when it was well known that this was the most vulnerable area, given the precarious situation in neighbouring States. Goans would still need to know why Sawant defied calls for a stringent lockdown when the State and its people pleaded so, and when other States imposed varying levels of restrictions and shutdown, and when even the Centre was contemplating a national-level lockdown.
If economics is weighing on CM’s mind, the government needed to strategize on sustaining lives and livelihoods. It's a conscious and calculated decision that had to be taken. There have to be support systems on the lines provided by governments in other States like Delhi. In Goa people are not dying of hunger, they are dying of Covid. Where are our priorities? And why has the State government remained highly insensitive even as innocent lives are snatched away?
It's a shame for any State when courts are forced to intervene in such basic decision-making which affects the lives of citizens. It's an embarrassment that the high court has to tell the government it needs to impose restrictions, provide information to citizens and safeguard the lives of frontline warriors. These are the basic responsibilities of any government. We only hope that the High Court directives will knock some sense into this insensitive system. Goans deserve the security of lives and peace during this terrible time of crisis.
