BKU says its Covid initiatives running into admin hurdles; govt denies allegation
The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) has alleged that its initiatives and suggestions to help Covid-19 patients, especially in the rural areas of western UP, is running into administrative hurdles.
Gaurav Tikait, BKU youth wing national president, on Wednesday alleged that six oxygen cylinders that he provided to the primary health centre in Sisauli town, the BKU headquarters in Muzaffarnagar district of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, were still lying unattended. He added that no initiative was taken to provide a small medical facility for villagers there. Gaurav Tikait is the son of Naresh Tikait, the chief of BKU, which has been at the forefront of the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three new agri reform laws.
He accused the administration of doing it deliberately to
“demoralise us and to prevent BKU from getting any credit for serving people during pandemic” . Dharmendra Malik, union’s state spokesperson, claimed Muzaffarnagar chief medical officer Dr Mahaveer Singh Faujdar on Tuesday issued an order that oxygen cylinders would be given only on prescription of doctors registered with the CMO’s office.
He said this “impractical order” would have an adverse impact on ensuring availability of oxygen for patients in villages.
“How a person requiring treatment would identify a doctor registered in the CMO’s office and then pursue him for seeking an oxygen cylinder?” he asked.
Gaurav Tikait said only MBBS doctors could be registered at the CMO office and there were few such doctors available in the villages. Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Selva Kumari J described the BKU’s charges as baseless. “The order would help in ensuring security as oxygen
cylinders are explosive in nature. In villages, even dentists and Unani doctors were recommending oxygen. Villagers don’t need to worry as members of the district IMA (Indian Medical Association) also have assured their help to needy patients,” the district magistrate added.
She further said that there were complaints about the
hoarding of oxygen cylinders, and it would be effectively checked now. Malik, however, said accusing villagers of hoarding oxygen was an excuse to justify such an impractical order.
“Officials have an entire mechanism to check and act against erring persons involved in hoarding instead of trying to prevent it through such orders,” he said and reiterated that the union will take up the issue strongly.Gaurav Tikait suggested that primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs) in villages and towns should be converted into small oxygen-supported medical facilities, adding that a similar suggestion had been given to the health department in Muzaffarnagar.
He also said the Union would provide free oxygen cylinders in these PHCs and CHCs to the best of its capacity.
“It would help preventing undue panic for treatment in villages where people are dying in the absence of proper treatment and testing,” said the youth leader. On the other hand, Union minister and Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Baliyan said instead of creating so many medical facilities, the focus should be on first providing good treatment at the existing ones.
“Extension of medical facilities is worthwhile only after we can arrange the required skilled staff otherwise it would turn into a mess,” he said. He claimed that the district magistrate and he visited hospitals every day to take stock of the treatment being provided to Covid patients.
In the neighbouring district of Bijnor, BKU’s youth wing state president Digambar Singh also accused officials of creating obstacles in the work of social organisations who wanted to help people.
“They were scared of getting exposed therefore adopting measures to discourage those who want to help,” said Singh, who along with his supporters, staged a dharna (sit-in) outside the CMO’s office in Bijnor on May 9 to raise the issue of alleged shortage of medicines in medical stores, black marketing and inadequate supply of oxygen to patients in home isolation.
Singh claimed that BKU activists brought oxygen cylinders from nearby Roorkee and Hardwar and provided them to patients, but the administration objected to Union flags on vehicles carrying cylinders.
He claimed that union supporters had created a group on WhatsApp for providing list of plasma donors and pushed the administration to start plasma therapy in the district.
He claimed that he could help in arranging a medical facility of 30 to 40 beds with oxygen for treatment of Covid-19 patients but was receiving no response from officials. Bijnor district magistrate Ramakant Pandey disagreed with the accusations and claimed that there was no paucity of medicine, oxygen and beds in the district.
“Officials are keeping a close eye on any attempt at hoarding and black marketing of oxygen,” he said. Pandey also said BKU leaders were welcome if they wanted to help people.
“The administration has no intention of discouraging anyone who wants to extend a genuine helping hand,” he said.