Younis Ahad
The end to miseries and hardships triggered by the outbreak of deadly coronavirus is unpredictable. Like other states, Jammu and Kashmir also entered into the unlock phase to allow some economic activities to resume but owing to the deteriorating situation in Kashmir, district Administration Srinagar announced fresh lockdown for 21 days in some areas of Srinagar and it was also followed by another notification directing complete lockdown till July,27 barring Bandipora district. The question which must be asked now is that does this lockdown really help us in containing the pandemic? Well no idea about how much case count would be reduced by this lockdown but it is considered most effective way of reducing human interaction and social gathering. In my opinion, the lockdown is not a solution, it exacerbates problems and hardships for all sections of Kashmir as everyone knows August 5 decision last year prompted spontaneous curfew that resulted in big economic loss. It is pertinent to discuss the improving situation in Maharashtra, Delhi and Kerala. The infection in Delhi was rising day by day and the mortality rate was also increasing but the overall situation in Delhi is under control as the recovery rate is about 80 percent. The experience in Delhi has shown a way that lockdown is not a solution at all and the experience can bring Jammu & Kashmir government closer to good containment measures . I do not intend to compare JK with Delhi, I know the situation in Delhi is different as compared to Kashmir and vice versa but we must acknowledge the fact that the aggressive testing and massive health care facilities have Delhi to contain the spread of the virus.
To tackle this inefficiency government must expand facilities in hospitals because massive expansion in facilities would surely supplement the efforts made for containing this virus.
Health care infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir specifically in Kashmir is not upgrade enough to deal with any contingency. To me feeble health care facilities have resulted in the unprecedented increase in mortality rate in Kashmir, despite warnings issued by doctors that situation could get out of hand if the infection is not contained. The poor infrastructure and low intake capacity of our hospitals has put the common people in trouble because they are facing safety issues in the hospitals. To tackle this inefficiency government must expand facilities in hospitals because massive expansion in facilities would surely supplement the efforts made for containing this virus. The government must announce a big economic package for boosting health care infrastructure immediately. The government has to simultaneously ensure transparency in bureaucracy so that funds are judiciously used for purposes of infrastructure upgradation. The situation demands that government constitutes a special committee which should be vested a power to inspect the hospitals after every month. Last but not the least the government must ensure that the hygienic conditions of the government hospitals are maintained and people are educated as their cooperation can be solicited through various means of communication including print and electronic media.
(The author is a law student at Kashmir University. Views are his own) [email protected]
