the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar on Sunday unleashed a volley of criticism over the response of the BJP government to the ongoing panic about COVID-19. Chodankar termed as “illegal” the directions issued by Chief Minister Pamod Sawant to the district magistrates about not issuing permissions to public meetings for the Zilla Panchayat polls and said that such directions are beyond the CM’s powers when the model code of conduct is in force.
Speaking at Congress House, Chodankar said, “The CM has asked all political parties not to address public meetings. But he addressed BJP meetings before and after making this announcement. How can the CM give directions to district collectors not to grant permissions to any political parties for public meetings when the model code of conduct is in place? This is beyond his powers and is illegal.”
Criticising the CM’s address on Saturday, the party claimed that it created more confusion instead of making the public feel safe.
The GPCC president raised concerns about the preparedness of the state government in handling the threat posed by COVID-19. “In the last two months, there has been immense delay in adopting basic steps. Till date, Goa still doesn’t have a single testing laboratory for such diseases and we still send it to Maharashtra. Are two months not enough to create such a laboratory?” he demanded. Chodankar further said that Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has published a list of 51 laboratories in India and additional 56 collection laboratories which confirms this fact.
Congress pointed out that the government hasn’t called any meetings with the private practitioners, who handle 70 to 80 per cent of the volume of patients. Questioning the seriousness of the state government in handling the situation, Chodankar voiced doubts about the financial transparency in purchases during the time when the Epidemic Diseases ACt, 1897 remains in force. will be a loot,” he alleged.
