Time and again, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has shown how he lacks the administrative acumen to govern Delhi with the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic being a case in point. After Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention in June, Delhi was saved from the throngs of the virus. Now, with Delhi rapidly becoming a hotspot, the Delhi High Court has rapped the AAP government as it came down heavily on the Kejriwal administration for its inability to contain the virus.
“Why did you wait for 18 days to restrict the number of attendees at weddings, how many died of Covid-19 during this period,” observed the High Court while rapping the Delhi government.
The High Court added, “You were shaken out of slumber, you turned turtle after we asked questions.”
Expressing concern over the deteriorating condition, the High Court said, “We certainly cannot be silent bystanders to a situation that is deteriorating. We will not be silent observers. You were not working from November 1 onwards till very recently and that is getting us worried…We are not here to shake you out of your slumber.”
It is pertinent to note that as if oblivious of the situation at the ground, the AAP government on November 1, raised the cap on the number of guests allowed at weddings to 200 — a move which was questioned by the court last week.
The Court had also ordered the Delhi government to file a status report on the steps taken by it in the past two weeks to control the pandemic by November 18.
In a concerning development, the national capital on Wednesday, recorded 7,468 new cases of the virus with 131 fatalities.
After Amit Shah’s intervention, the positivity rate in the city had dropped to 6 per cent in September, which has now rapidly increased to over 11 per cent in the past couple of weeks.
Sensing an impending disaster, Amit Shah has yet again taken matters into his own hands with Shah holding a meeting last week with Kejriwal, LG Anil Baijal and Union Health Minister Dr. Harshvardhan to take stock of the situation.
Read More: Kejriwal gives up, Amit Shah takes over: Kejriwal throws in the towel as he loses control of COVID-19 situation in Delhi
Earlier this week, the Central government had announced a slew of measures to help Delhi in its battle against the virus. It was announced that the testing capacity will be increased to 60,000 RT-PCR tests a day by the end of the month with house-to-house survey being completed by November 25.
The number of ICU beds will also be doubled at DRDO facility near the Delhi airport to 500 in the next four days with the Indian Railways also chipping in by making 800 beds available.
A team of 10 doctors and officials constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs are camping in Delhi to inspect private hospitals in Delhi on virus containment and treatment.
Importantly, the MHA has also stated that in a bid to ramp up Delhi’s medical infrastructure, all 75 doctors and 251 paramedics from the paramilitary have reported to duty.
It surely seems a sorry state of affairs in Delhi with the Central government yet again having to step in to control the situation as the Kejriwal administration goes missing.