KATHMANDU, JUNE 15

Joint General Secretary of Nepali Congress Prakash Sharan Mahat, who heads the party’s COV- ID-19 Monitoring Committee, said today that the federal government’s role in preventing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic was almost nil.

He demanded an independent probe into funds used to prevent the spread of COVID-19, treatment of COVID patients and procurement of medical equipment.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the party here today, Mahat said although the federal government claimed to have spent Rs 10 billion for the prevention of COVID-19 spread and treatment of coronavirus patients, local levels that were doing major work to stem the threat of pandemic, complained that they had not received any fund from the federal government.

“On the one hand, the finance minister says that the government’s revenue cannot bear even the general expenditure, while on the other, the finance minister has earmarked budget for non-priority areas,” Mahat added. The government, instead of addressing protesters’ concerns, is suppressing them for demanding better handling of the COVID-19 crisis, added the NC leader.

Mahat told THT that he talked to local representatives who said they got some amount from provincial governments but not from the federal government.

Mahat also accused the federal government of indulging in corruption in the name of procuring medical equipment. “The federal government decided to procure medical equipment via government to government deal after its pact with private companies came under fire. Even the equipment procured by the federal government via government to government deal was more expensive than the market price,” Mahat said.

He said NC had advised the government to have a comprehensive plan to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, but the government’s apathy and mismanagement had led to an unprecedented rise of COVID-19 cases.

Mahat added that people of the country were forced to live under lockdown for 83 days and yet the government had no concrete plan to revive the economy.

He said people had to wait for days to get results of their laboratory samples. “Since not enough tests have been conducted, the government does not know where it should ease the lockdown and where it should continue with it,” Mahat added.

He said the government had not enforced even its own directives in quarantine centres, which had become a major source of COVID-19 infection.

He condemned the government for sending people from quarantines home after two weeks without testing them for the contagion. He also pointed out that delay in getting lab test results was causing the disease to spread, as infected people mingle with others.

The NC will submit a memorandum to local levels, chief ministers and Nepali embassies in foreign countries tomorrow.

Mahat added that the government was taking long time to bring Nepalis stranded in foreign countries back. “It is the height of the government’s irresponsibility to force Nepalis stranded in foreign countries to pay three times more than the actual air fare to return home,”

Mahat added. He said the government was neither providing the required relief to the public nor was it allowing others to help the public.

The NC demanded that PCR tests be ramped up and quarantines comply with the government’s criteria. It also sought relief for daily wagers, the poor, differently-abled people, students, farmers and big and small businesses affected by the lockdown.

The NC also demanded that the government announce relief packages for citizens, use Social Security Fund to repatriate Nepali workers from foreign countries and form all-party mechanisms at local levels to monitor COVID-19 control efforts and relief distribution. It also demanded that frequent transfer of health professionals be stopped and equipment to diagnose and treat COVID-19 patients be made available at health centres.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 16, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.