Editorial Desk :
Health Minister Zahid Malik has said that it has become difficult to enforce health rules because people are not listening to the government’s advice to observe social distancing and health norms. The minister’s observation has come at a time when corona infection and death rates have started rising alarmingly across the country.
He has also said that his ministry has been offering health services to the people within limited resources. Responding to a query from a television journalist as to why he was not attending his secretariat office regularly the minister said the secretariat is not his only office. “We work from many places,” he said adding “any place where I go is my office”.
Despite the lockdown restrictions and suspension of long haul train, bus and launch services the arrival of people to and departure from the capital continues unabated. People who come from outlying districts disembark at the entry points of the metropolis and make weary track into the city. Those who go out follow the same outbound route.
Faced with this reality the government has announced a 7-day ‘strict lockdown’ from Monday to avoid India-like Covid-19 catastrophe. While the World Health Organisation has said that 40 out of 64 districts of the country are now at very high Covid risk, local experts have warned of a serious spike in the pandemic before the coming Eid-ul-Azha in little less than a month.
Against this backdrop the Health Minister should mind his observations. He should know the government is not for offering advice to the people, because this is the job of experts and knowledgeable people sitting outside the tentacles of power. The duty of the government is to take action to achieve desired results.
It is no surprise the health ministry remained too idle for too long completely unprepared when the Covid crisis hit. There is advantage of not being accountable to the people and depending on gun power of the corrupt ones. The government is afraid of the people to work with the people at this disastrous time of deaths and spread of the pandemic
The health minister will not be able to justify his advisory role from the latest budget papers. His ministry has demonstrated the worst performance in terms of implementation of the current Annual Development Plan But in terms of corruption health ministry and its departments have beaten all other ministries.
Failure to take the right action at the appropriate time is a reflection of ineptness. The government often talks about limitations of resources when it comes to offering services to the people. There is no limitation of resources when it comes to distribution of benefits among the government people and corruption at every stage, not to speak of their rich life style.
