A virtual political war appears to have broken out in the national capital between the Aam Aadmi Party government on the one side, and the BJP and the Congress on the other. The latest confrontation is regarding the number of people who have succumbed to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Arvind Kejriwal dispensation is being accused of minimising the death statistics, while in the same breath creating a fear psychosis by pronouncing that by the end of July, the number of corona patients in Delhi would have crossed 5.5 lakh.
Contesting the official claims, the BJP and a few Congress leaders have stated, that the number of those who had been cremated or buried, was far greater than what has been put out in the public domain. The flawed challenge attempts to furnish an impression that those who had died during this period were Covid-19 victims, without taking into account that many may have been suffering from other ailments, including old age that finally proved fatal. Therefore, irrefutable proof needs to substantiate these irresponsible allegations.
Unfortunately, the problem that arises is that any sort of figure or empirical data—which is given out by either authorised agencies or private bodies—lacks both credibility and accuracy. The bureaucracy in India specialises in cooking up facts that have no connection with the ground realities. Many gullible politicians “buy into” the meticulously documented falsehood, using it as a convenient propaganda instrument. In the process, many half-baked truths become the truth, thereby unabashedly shrouding reality.
The corona warriors, with divergent political backgrounds, have been engaged in a warfare of their own, when they should be collectively aiding the common people to come to terms with this frightening disease, that so far has no known cure. The scene playing out in Delhi clearly demonstrates how multiplicity of authority has led to major obstacles in this so-called crusade.
The Registrar of Births and Deaths falls under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation, and should thereby be designated as the final authority for chronicling the numbers of births and deaths. Significantly, after the civic body was trifurcated during the tenure of Sheila Dikshit, the record-keeping also has been severely affected. The cash-strapped civic bodies are at sea, regarding public health and sanitation. This is evident from the fact that the hospitals run by the Municipal Corporation have failed to join this unprecedented tussle against Covid-19, either due to inadequate leadership or out of sheer ignorance.
Therefore, the figures laid out by the Delhi government might be insufficient since they are based on incomplete information collected from various hospitals. Here, too, there is a major problem; the city has hospitals which are run by civic bodies, as well as those administered by the Delhi government and the Centre and its allied agencies. In addition, private hospitals have jumped into this battle, finding this an apt opportunity for raking in hefty amounts.
In his over-enthusiasm to project himself as the caretaker of the national capital, which he should have been, considering the mandate, Kejriwal seems to many a time forget, that he heads a truncated government which lacks control over several agencies. The media too, by and large, is oblivious regarding these defined distinctions and thus tends to question Kejriwal and his colleagues, for whatever is going askew in the city.
Now both Safdarjung hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia hospital come directly under the purview of the Union government, and the renowned AIIMS, though an autonomous body of medical excellence, is also accountable to the Centre. The Hindu Rao hospital, the Rajan Babu TB hospital and the Infectious Disease hospital in Kingsway Camp are with the municipal corporation. It is only institutions like the LNJP hospital and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital that are in the Delhi government’s zone.
Thus clearly, Kejriwal has no means to wield influence over the goings-on in hospitals other than those of the Delhi government. In attempting to portray himself as the CM, in the same way as any CM of a full-fledged state, Kejriwal has invited attention on himself for the wrong reasons. The model of the success achieved by the mohalla clinics and his handling of water, power and education issues, primarily had contributed, for the second time round, to his spectacular victory. By declaring that the Covid-19 cases were on the rise, he has raised massive doubts over his medical-related achievements.
This is similar to what has happened at the Centre, where due to the dismal handling of the overall situation, questions are being raised regarding the Gujarat model of governance, which prior to this, had never been under scrutiny. In fact, over the past few months, many myths have been shattered, even though the media continues to solely focus on opposition-ruled states rather than taking a closer look at states administered by the BJP as well.
Delhi would have acquitted itself much better if there had been a single command to take care of the innumerable troubles confronting the citizens. The multiplicity of authority has compounded the woes of the people, without providing them any substantial relief. The only purpose of the trifurcation of the undivided MCD was that Sheila Dikshit felt threatened by a powerful civic body, which had decisively more day-to-day dealings with the people than the Delhi government.
Covid-19 has to be collectively combated without condemning and denouncing one another. However, after the pandemic ends, the Centre must re-examine the demand for granting full statehood to Delhi. Between us.