Given that the predicted third wave of the current vicious COVID pandemic is reportedly inching towards our doorstep, it is atrocious that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been blatantly disregarding the advice being given officially by our medical experts on the precautions and safeguards to be adopted to prevent the spread of the virus.
If this is the attitude of the government, why at all waste the time and energy of these expert doctors to tender their opinion which those in power choose to merrily bin. After the human horror that we have witnessed in the second wave, there is need to take all the precautions as advised by the experts in the field. With Chief Minister confidentially chanting ‘Bhivpachi Garaz Na’, Goa has officially already lost over 3200 precious lives to the virus, so now caution and prudence is the key. The current curfew which is in force has been reduced to a laughing stock with the Chief Minister himself participating in huge political meetings on a day to day basis with social distancing and other norms cheerfully thrown to the winds. The freely availability of fabricated RTPCR and even vaccination certificates should be a matter of great concern. Is there a mechanism at our borders, airport and railway stations to ascertain the genuineness of these certificates. We will not forget how porous our borders ended up being even during the peak of the pandemic. Despite the expert committee having its strong reservation on allowing ‘Liberal’ Tourism, the Chief Minister for reasons best known to him is very keen to restart the Casinos which would predictably promote the rapid spread of the virus and could be catastrophic for our State. Very inappropriate to be gambling with people’s lives. It was expected that Pramod Sawant would act responsibly at least on this crucial Health issue, given that he claims to have a degree in Ayurvedic Medicine from Kolhapur’s Shivaji University and a Masters in Social Work from Tilak University in Pune. We can only trust the Chief Minister that these academic credentials were not picked off the shelf. And on the evolving pandemic, we can now only hope that God shields and protects Goa. Adv. Aires Rodrigues C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.in
