GUWAHATI, July 29 - Demanding a high-level probe into several allegations of corruption in the management of COVID-19 in the State, the Coordination Committee Against Citizenship Amendment Act today stated that a number of steps taken by the State government during the crisis are detrimental to the interest of the State and its common people.
The committee alleged that at a time when the entire population was subjected to untold miseries due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the prolonged lockdown and the devastating floods in the State, there have been allegations regarding some unscrupulous elements adopting manipulative means to get undue advantage from the prevailing situation.
�Allegations about procurement of PPE kits, masks and sanitizers at disproportionately higher rates, are very serious and demand immediate attention of the State government. It is also being alleged that under the government�s patronage, some COVID management related items are being sold at exorbitant rates. The government must come clean on this by announcing a high-level probe into all COVID-19 related procurements in the State,� the committee headed by Dr Hiren Gohain stated today. It also questioned the status of 50 thousand PPE kits brought from China.
�The ambiguity surrounding that consignment from China is suspicious. The government must make it clear whether those kits were used in the hospitals of Assam or they were dumped because of its substandard quality. At a time when prolonged lockdown has made life miserable for the poor and middle-income groups, the government must be held accountable for every single penny of public money,� the committee asserted.
The organization also criticized the State government for its �criminal negligence� towards the condition of poor people and daily wage earners of the State.
The anti-CAA organization further rapped the government for its failure to handle the flood situation in an effective manner. Inadequate relief to the flood-affected people, the government�s move to introduce dangerous amendments in the EIA 2020, etc, are some of the measures that expose the government�s insensitivity towards the people, it alleged.
�We also demand of the State government to adopt a sensitive approach in ensuring social distancing and implementing health protocols. Instead of extreme policing and use of force on common people, the government can take the help of volunteers and NGOs to sensitize people and ensure their spontaneous participation in the process,� it added.
