Meghalaya Mahila Congress president Joplyn Scott Shylla has added her voice to those who have criticised the state government for its sudden decision yesterday to impose a lockdown in East Khasi Hills.
The government should have taken the opposition into confidence before deciding on the lockdown route, which was announced just a few hours before it came into effect, forcing the public to make a mad dash to procure essential and other items.
Shylla said that daily wage earners and rural folk would have needed more time to prepare for a five-day lockdown.
In addition, she said that the government should have deployed “adequate manpower to check rampant hoarding and also sudden price rise”.
The Mahila Congress also wants to know whether Health Minister AL Hek has carried out a Covid safety audit of all the health centres, with regard to their “manpower provision, equipment, emergency services and Covid testing centres”
Shylla also questioned why the state Covid committee has become inactive despite the surging number of new infections. She also opined that senior opposition politicians, like former Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma, could have been roped in by the government to tackle the pandemic.
