CPM slams Modi government for ‘disastrous’ mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has launched a blistering attack on the Modi government over the mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic, alleging that “Modi government refuses to learn” and that it is “the tragedy for the people and the country”.

In a stinging editorial published in People’s Democracy, CPM said as per the Article 21 (which guarantees right to health) of the Constitution, it is Modi government’s responsibility to “procure all vaccines and to negotiate the price with vaccine manufacturers.”

Instead, the Modi government left it to the states, creating chaos and difference in pricing, it said.

Hitting out at the Modi government for not reworking the vaccination programme, CPM said, “It is a regime blinkered by its neo-liberal and Hindutva nostrums. One can only hope that the supreme court will muster the will to direct the government to change its policy based on the citizens’ right to life (and health) provided for under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.”

Saying that Modi government’s “inability to rely on science stemming from Hindutva outlook” is responsible for disastrous handling of the Covid wave, the CPM-run organ added, “For what else can explain the conduct of the union health minister and minister of science and technology, Harsh Vardhan? As Covid cases surged in mid-April, the minister held a meeting of officers of various departments, regarding the research programme on indigenous cows. Absurdly titled as Scientific Utilisation Though Research Augmentation Prime Products from Indigenous Cows (SUPRA-PIC).”

“The Hindutva obsession with the cow has now resulted in the grotesque sight of men going to gaushalas in Gujarat, to smear their bodies with cow dung and urine to get immunity from the virus. After all, Gujarat is the original laboratory of Hindutva in India,” emphasized the CPM.

“This government will not learn nor correct its ways. That is a tragedy for the people and the country,” added the People's Democracy.