47-year-old M Padmanabha, a primary school teacher in Kerala’s Kasaragod district, succumbed to Covid-19 on Sunday and his relations and colleagues blame the callousness of the State administration for what they claim as a mishap which could have been avoided.
The ground reality is the demise of Padmanabha due to Covid-19 is a bloat on the face of Kerala Government which takes pride in claiming that it has become a role model to the world in managing the pandemic,” said Sukumaran Periyachoor, a retired Government Higher Secondary School principal
Padmanabha was one of the 1,740 school teachers deployed in 777 local body wards in the district by the Kasaragod administration to go around market places, businesses, funerals and maidans where people gather to ensure that all adhered to Covid-19 protocol.
Most of these teachers are untrained to undertake such a massive operation which needs basic skills in management of crowd, inter personal communication. “The district has more than 15,000 Covid-19 patients but there are no sufficient medical staff like doctors, nurses and paramedical staff,” said Sukumaran. He pointed out that the Kerala Government which boasts itself as the State with India’s best health care system was heard accusing the Karnataka Government when the latter shut down the road from Kerala fearing transmission of the disease. Though the Tata Group built a state-of-the-art exclusive Covid Hospital in Thekkil village in the district at a cost of Rs 70 crore where 542 patients could be treated, the Government is yet to appoint a single doctor or other medical staff.
The Tata Group handed over the fully equipped hospital to the District Collector on September 9 and the matter ended there.
The last one week saw 30 persons in the district succumbing to the pandemic. “Most of the teachers who have been appointed as Covid volunteers are above the age of 50 and this is a matter of concern. The Government is understood to have sanctioned on September 30 the appointment of 191 medical staff.
But the discussion between the finance and health departments about the mode of appointment remains inconclusive,” said Rajesh Puthiyakandam, leader of the action committee.