The Aam Aadmi Party has flayed the government for ordering management of aided schools to bear the salary of teachers and has sought the intervention of governor to ensure that teachers get their salary. In a letter to the governor AAP Convenor Elvis Gomes wrote:
“Government has still not explained the need to call teachers to schools on a daily basis when SOPs issued by the ministry of Home affairs and Ministry of HRD allow teachers to work from home. Even though teachers as a community have been faithfully attending school regularly, a circular issued by the education department states that private unaided schools will be required to bear the salaries of teachers as the dealing hand in the department is reportedly down with Covid and two others have been home quarantined. This exposes the functioning of a government department that hinges on the attendance of one or two clerks without any contingency plan. This decision places huge stress on the school managements to bear the expenditures towards salaries. We request you to intervene in this matter in all earnestness and ensure that some other dealing hands take over the charge of the absentees”
Highlighting a host of issues that have arisen as a result of the pandemic, Gomes also made an oblique reference to the governor for not inviting the party for discussions despite seeking appointment and said that while it was the governor’s prerogative to invite or not, bringing issues of grave public interest to the fore, particularly where public health—which is state guaranteed under the constitution of India—is concerned was it’s own prerogative.
Gomes told the governor that the government had been floundering in its Covid response and informed him how it had failed to keep Goa in the Green Zone.
“Some of the decisions—like opening up the borders admittedly under pressure from lobbies such as hotel lobbies; continuation of mining that brought in drivers and support staff from other states in large numbers; allowing people connected with high profile politicians to circumvent border controls like it happened in Calangute—were taken without against the cause of public interest”
He called upon the Governor to go through the records and let Goans know the real reason for the ‘unscientific’ lockdown and banning movement of persons between 8 PM to 6 AM with an unscientific approach, without evidence to suggest that the transmission can be broken in three days or that the virus is more active at night. He said that there were reports all over social media that mining trucks continue to operate in the mining areas.
Stating that the main issue now was the non-preparedness to build capacities in terms of beds, oxygen, PPE kits and ventilators during these past four months, Gomes wrote that orders for ventilators were being given at huge costs that were multiple times higher than what the other governments were procuring.
Gomes said that the idea of forcing open private hospitals to the extent of 20% beds capacity available in such hospitals indicated that there were no more beds for critical care support in state-run facilities.
“Is it that in the event of VIPs and the rich getting infected, there is worry about having to be admitted in state-run Covid hospital where several deaths are taking place and as the talk is, the facilities are far from satisfactory? There are reports (unconfirmed) that even a portable X-Ray Machine had to be borrowed from the nearby Victor Hospital in Margao. This failure to anticipate the extent of the crisis, and continued mismanagement and lack of transparency calls into serious question the Government’s capability to contain the issue moving forward.”
He added that issues highlighted to the Governor were but a few among others such as increasing unemployment due loss of jobs, closure of businesses, exorbitant electricity bills, repatriation of NRIs and still stranded seafarers and said that rather than addressing the issues publicly, the legislators have decided to safeguard themselves from Covid by reducing the budget session to just one day, which calls into question their commitment to fight the crises.
“Considering the manner in which the pandemic is playing out at the national and global level, and as the number of positive cases continue to scale up in Goa, the government’s handling of the same has failed to inspire confidence. Its ability to mitigate the spread of the virus and proactively address related issues that are sure to crop up is a cause of serious concern” said Gomes and called upon the governor to take responsibility as the head of the state, to see that the government to whom he had administered oath, is acting under the provisions of law, particularly on disclosure of steps taken to deal with the Covid crisis. Gomes offered to give constructive suggestions on the basis of AAPs Delhi Government’s efforts.
