'Life precious than Economy': IMA says Lockdown only option to break the chain The Central government had refused to implement the lockdown resulting in mounting of new patients beyond four lakhs every day, IMA said Saturday May 8, 2021 3:09 PM, IANS New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday slammed the Union Health Ministry, saying it is "astonished to see the extreme lethargy and inappropriate actions" from the department in combating the agonizing crisis caused by the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Noting that the collective consciousness, proactive cognizance, and requests made by the IMA and other professional learned colleagues are put into the "dustbin", the association said the decisions are taken "without realizing the ground realities".