Hry Cong CLP expresses concern over cases of black-marketing of oxygen cylinders, antiviral drugs

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Haryana on Wednesday expressed concern over several cases which have come to the fore involving alleged black-marketing of oxygen cylinders and anti-viral drugs in the state.

The Congress MLAs shared the problems of their constituencies and claimed that the government has completely failed to stop the COVD-19 pandemic.

The Haryana Police has during the past over a fortnight arrested 67 persons from across the state for alleged black-marketing of oxygen cylinders and anti-viral Remdesivir injections.

At the CLP meet, convened by former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here to discuss the COVID situation in the state, the Congress MLAs expressed the view that things are going ''worse from day-to-day as the infection is now spreading rapidly to the village of the state''. According to a party statement, many legislators claimed that the hospitals in the cities and health centres in villages are facing a heavy shortage of equipment and staff. The legislators highlighted the alleged shortage of hospital beds, medicines and oxygen.

The Congress MLAs, according to the statement, claimed that most hospitals do not have ventilators, and even facilities that have one, do not have an operator to operate these machines.

At the outset of the meeting, the legislators paid tributes to those who have lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic and passed a resolution expressing their condolences to their families.

Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition, while addressing the legislators, said that in view of the alleged lack of proper arrangements by the government to deal with the raging pandemic, ''our responsibility towards the people as opposition increases further''. ''All MLAs should help COVID patients in every way possible. We must keep a close watch on the problems being faced by the people and such issues should be immediately raised before the authorities and the government. ''All the Congress MLAs should be active on social media as today a large number of people are also seeking help from public representatives through such platforms,'' he said.

Hooda expressed his anguish over the state of medical facilities in the rural areas of the state. ''We have already told the government several times to formulate a special policy to stop the spread of the pandemic in the rural areas. Testing, medical camps and help desks should be started in every village and house-to-house rapid antigen testing should be carried out and temporary hospitals in villages and cities should be set up on a war footing,'' he said. The former chief minister said the government should take steps to encourage and motivate frontline COVID warriors who are leading the fight against the pandemic on the ground. ''We need to encourage them in every way possible. The government must announce special packages for doctors, medical staff, paramedical staff. The government should also announce additional honorarium and special insurance scheme for Anganwadi, ASHA workers, depot holders, police, daily personnel and all employees working in the field in these difficult times,'' he said.

Hooda said the biggest requirement was to ensure oxygen supply for every hospital and patient. ''The death of a single patient without oxygen and treatment is unfortunate. The state government should demand a further increase in the quota of oxygen from the Centre,'' he said.

The Congress leader said the Haryana government should also bear the expenses of COVID patients from below poverty line (BPL) families being treated in government and private hospitals. ''This will also provide proper treatment to the poorest sections of the society and also prevent illegal and inhuman over charging from patients by many private hospitals,'' he added.

Hooda appealed to all residents in the rural areas to obey strict discipline and follow the same steps they had taken during the first wave of the pandemic last year.

''People had set up vigil at the village-level and had carried out special announcements to raise awareness about the pandemic..,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)