Chandigarh, September 1:
Senior Congress Leader and Cabinet Minister S. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has slammed SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal for baking political bread in this time of epidemic instead of supporting the State Government which was battling Covid-19. He said that it was shameful and reprehensible for the President of Akali Dal to resort to the rumour mongering amongst the innocent villagers to fulfill his political aspirations.
He said that if Sukhbir Badal had such a concern for the state then what stops him from putting pressure on Central Government for rushing to Punjab’s help. Instead of asking for anything from the But, the fact of the matter is that the Center and both the husband and wife Akali MPs from Punjab are always looking for an opportunity to criticize the State Government and settle political scores.
Reacting to the statement made by the SAD President on Tuesday condemning the efforts of the State Government to deal with Covid-19, S. Randhawa said that today when not only the entire country but the entire world is engulfed in this grave crisis, Sukhbir Singh Badal is behaving like a schoolboy and making immature statements for the sake of regaining lost political ground.
He said that by casting doubt on the government hospitals, Sukhbir Badal had tried unsuccessfully to discourage the doctors and health staff fighting against Covid as front line warriors.
S. Randhawa said that the Sukhbir should have asked his workers to make the village people aware about Covid-19 by providing the correct information and to cooperate with the health workers so that the treatment of the patients with symptoms could be started immediately after the test.
But it is rather unfortunate that the Akali Dal is baking political bread and inciting innocent villagers against the State Government. He further said that the SAD President, who had resorted to false propaganda about hospital admissions, had seen this epidemic as a way to brighten his politics.
S. Randhawa pointed out that the State Government is cracking down on anti-social elements and a person has even been arrested by the Punjab Police for spreading false messages to the people not to go to the hospitals for fear of amputation. At such a critical juncture, Sukhbir’s statement is a clumsy ploy by the state government to weaken the war against Covid.
Divulging more, the Congress leader said that the State Government is promoting domestic isolation to mitigate the plight of asymptomatic people. He said that only critically ill patients need to be admitted to the hospital and the patients who could not live in home quarantine could avail private services or free government facilities as per their convenience.
The Cabinet Minister further said that in this time of crisis, the State Government is doing its utmost to provide best possible healthcare to the people and Punjab is in a far better position as compared to other states in the country. He said that even developed Western countries like USA and European could not escape from the grip of this epidemic but the opposition parties there have never thwarted the efforts of their respective governments.
Elaborating more, he said that Punjab has intensified its fight against covid and has also increased testing and set up three plasma banks. So far, 10,62,667 tests have been conducted in Punjab and a total of 53,992 persons have tested positive out of which 37027 have recovered. The Health Department is doing an unparalleled job and the State government would not tolerate the reprehensible statements of any leader who is hell bent upon demoralizing the health workers in this war like situation.
