Getting wiser on human toll!

Adm wakes up at the cost of three innocent lives

Now says every district to have a dedicated COVID burial, cremation ground

Rattan Singh Gill

The J&K Administration has an abysmal record of serving the public. While failing to perform for public good, they have rather their own benchmarks, that too unquestionable by the people.

Born to the British ICS legacy, these ‘know-it-all' Babus often pose of having full expertise in all possible specializations under the sky in modern governance except for the accountability in public service. For their own convenience, they invariably quote rules for strict enforcement for the commoners, while violating the same multiple times at the drop of a hat for themselves and for their superiors.

Failure at the part of J&K Administration for earmarking and notifying the places for cremation of Covid victims even after four months of pandemic– an undeniable reality – which even an ordinary man can visualize – has been under public ire. Regarding the nightmarish plight of people put under forced administrative quarantine- the less said, the better.

The district administration cannot absolve itself from the sin for the incidents of humiliating the dead at the pyres at various places in Jammu.

Three innocent lives were sacrificed at the altar of SOPs and administrative inefficiency in two avoidable incidents – one, when two young relatives of a Covid deceased were put in straightjacket over five hours in humid and scorching heat before the uncertain place for cremation in Tawi was charted in ambulance and security vehicles. They died of dehydration and other issues before the eyes of government officials and security men and no one provided them even a drop of water to save them scared of them being possibly Covid infected. Strangely, the cremation job was supposed to be carried by the trained Health Workers as per the SOPs given in the official guidelines instead of putting the relatives on the job. But who bothers for these SOPs?

Death of an innocent and an ailing young man neglected at the Quarantine Centre at Kathua despite having tested negative, speaks volumes about the conditions and attentions, if any, paid by the authorities to the humans kept in inhuman conditions. The test report of the man took more than five days and despite being negative he was not permitted to go home on June 20 and his release was delayed for no fault of his and he lost his life. Again thanks to the SOPs.

For Babus, the lesser mortals are just numbers in the statistics at the closing of the day for daily official bulletin. It requires human heart to feel the pains and pangs of human beings that is missing as the Babus have already reserved luxurious resting rooms at Narayana Super Speciality Hospital at Katra being run by public money but exclusively for Advisors, VIPs, Civil Servants and their families. The Narayana Hospital is reportedly out of bounds for any ordinary Covid patient even against payment.

This discriminatory reservation of the public facility for Babus and their families is another feather in the J&K Administration's cap!

Learning by experimenting on human lives, the Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam, now has taken out a magic wand from his magic bag for his deputies to be little sensitive to human feelings. Taking stock of the available situation, he has directed Deputy Commissioners to adopt liberal release policy at administrative quarantine centres. He added that if the quarantined persons test negative, as per existing Standard Operating Procedure, they can be sent to ‘home quarantine' immediately. It took over four months since the first meeting on Covid preparations for the Jammu Kashmir Administration babus to realise this.

Chief Secretary has also now urged Deputy Commissioners to notify cemetery/cremation grounds exclusively for COVID victims so as to prevent any untoward incidence regarding their last rituals.

The Chief Secretary directed Divisional Commissioners, Jammu and Kashmir to undertake quality audits of administrative quarantine centres in respective provinces and suggest measures for improvement.

Regarding exit policy for de-notification of red/ containment zones, Chief Secretary has now instructed for allowing partial de-notification, if no new case is reported for 21 continuous days under existing protocol.

Having said that, the unbeatable logic, one must say, from their standpoint, they have all been children of a profligate god and live in a world where words like productivity, accountability, efficiency and fair-play do not exist. For them, the only thing that matters is power, perks, pay parity with the highest paid without any accountability.

Had performance been a bench-mark for pay and status, which should ideally be the case, it is anybody's guess how many of them would even qualify for employment, let alone heavy packages and elite class.

Now Div Com to probe 3 deaths  

Jammu Tawi, June 24 : The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday appointed Divisional Commissioner, Jammu as inquiry officer to probe the death of three persons including two who died during cremation of a COVID-19 patient in Jammu and another who was in quarantine at Kathua.

The General Administration Department (GAD) on Wednesday issued an order in this regard and appointed Divisional Commissioner Jammu Sanjeev Verma as an Inquiry Officer.

“He shall inquire into the circumstances leading to the death of two attendants participating in the funeral of a COVID patient in Jammu and death of a person in quarantine in Kathua,” an order issued by JK Government, a copy of which lies with us, reads.

“The inquiry officer shall complete the enquiry and submit a report to the Government within ten days from the date of issuance of this order,” the order further reads.

Pertinently, a man from Jammu died after he was tested positive while two of his nephews also died during his cremation. The death of two persons triggered protests by the family members.

Similarly, a person who was under administrative quarantine in Kathua died three days ago after which all the inmates of quarantine centre staged protest, alleging poor facilities in the quarantine facilities.