Lancet blasts Modi govt for Covid catastrophe

New Delhi:  Blasting the Narendra Modi Government in an editorial international medical journal The Lancet said India squandered its early s...

New Delhi: Blasting the Narendra Modi Government in an editorial international medical journal The Lancet said India squandered its early successes in controlling Covid-19 with the Modi government all set to preside over "a self-inflicted national catastrophe".

"(PM) Modi's actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis are inexcusable," it said.

"India squandered its early successes in controlling Covid-19. Until April, the government's Covid-19 taskforce had not met in months. The consequences of that decision are clear before us, and India must now restructure its response while the crisis rages," the editorial said.

"The success of that effort will depend on the government owning up to its mistakes, providing responsible leadership and transparency, and implementing a public health response that has science at its heart," it said.

"Before the second wave of cases of Cpvof-19 began to mount in early March, Indian Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan declared that India was in the "endgame" of the epidemic," it noted.

"Despite warnings about the risks of super-spreader events, the government allowed religious festivals to go ahead, drawing millions of people from around the country, along with huge political rallies-conspicuous for their lack of Covid-19 mitigation measures," Lancet said.

Calling India's vaccination policy "botched" and "falling apart" at the central level, the journal noted that the government abruptly shifted course without discussing the change in policy with states and has managed to vaccinate less than 2 per cent of the population.

"At times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic," Lancet said.

"The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see a staggering 1 million deaths from Covid-19 by Aug 1. If that outcome were to happen, Modi's government would be responsible for presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe," it added.

India has recorded 4,03,738 fresh Covid cases and 4,092 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the overall case count to 2.22 crore.