Sonia slams Centre, says India crippled by political leadership with no empathy for people ANI | Updated: May 07, 2021 19:37 IST
New Delhi [India], May 7 (ANI): Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday alleged that the BJP-led government has failed the people of country , and abdicated its fundamental responsibilities and duties towards the people in the COVID-19 crisis and demanded that it should urgently call an all-party meeting to discuss the pandemic situation.
Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting here, she attacked the government saying India is crippled by a political leadership today that has no empathy for the people .
Gandhi said fighting COVID is not a government versus us battle but us versus corona battle which transcends political differences and we have to fight this battle together as a nation .
Hospitals in India have been facing an acute shortage of oxygen/ICU beds and ventilators ever since the second wave of coronavirus infections hit the country with rampaging ferocity. Government data shows that instead of strengthening hospitals after the first wave, the country saw a drastic fall in health infrastructure.
I am angry. I’m recovering from COVID 19, mercifully able to manage my symptoms at home. Halfway through my illness came the news that my father had tested positive. Since then, every waking minute has been spent organising tests, talking to doctors, video calls to ensure he is OK, isolating my mother who has lymphoma and praying she doesn’t get it.
Mentally it is exhausting and I have been terrified simply because my parents live in Delhi- officially the hell capital of the world right now. Watching the health care system collapse, I shudder to think what would happen if they ever needed a hospital bed. And I know, I am one of the luckier ones.
India COVID-19 second wave: There is zero empathy for all of us gulfnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gulfnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Vappala Balachandran
Former Special Secy, Cabinet Secretariat
History has never seen India being so universally pitied upon as now, as our Covid death toll has crossed 2 lakh. A national daily reported that this month alone, Covid has claimed over 35,000 lives so far, including more than 18,000 in one week (April 21-27). This figure has surpassed the previous record of 33,230 deaths, reported in September 2020.
It hurts our national pride when other countries pity us for the way our healthcare system crumbled from March this year onwards due to the shortage of vaccines and oxygen. That this has happened after our government proudly declared early in 2021 to have overcome the problem has surprised other countries. Their sympathy is on seeing the way people are dying all over India when indications had come even last year that India would face a second, if not a third wave, of this pandemic.