The nation in isolation

By Pushpa Raj Pradhan

After a prolonged nationwide lockdown for four months, the nation is passing through another lockdown in the name of the prohibition order in above 45 districts by the chief district officers. Altogether, it has been six months the nation is witnessing total or partial lockdown. Despite continuous lockdown or prohibition order, every day the number of Covid-19 infected cases and the number of deaths are on the rise. The government has seen helpless and it has totally failed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19 a free gift from India:

Open border, free movement of people from each other’s country are the reasons behind the transmission of the deadly virus in Nepal from India. Nepal closed its international air routes but she could not control migration of hundreds of thousands people from India, which enormously contributed to spreading the Covid-19 pandemic all over the country. This is a big lesson to learn by the political leaders and policymakers of the country. Today, all the sectors have been very badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The country has been totally paralyzed and the economy, which is already weak, is on the verge of collapse. It is because we kept our borders with India opened.

Undermining the virus:

The political party in the government and other parties in the opposition didn’t take the virus seriously. Even the executive chief of the government – Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was found making loose talks that Nepalis are strong in immune power, therefore, the virus cannot harm us. He prescribed to drink enough turmeric hot water to defeat the virus.

Despite responding health experts’ advice for conducting throat swab testes at mass and effective contract tracing, the government firstly relied on RDT tests which contributed spreading of the virus at the community level in many districts. Even today, the government is not encouraged to conduct PCR tests at mass, instead, keen on prolonging lockdown or prohibition order.

PCR test is not medicine: Lockdown is not a solution

The government officials are discouraging on mass level PCR tests saying that it is not a medicine to cure the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the government has requested people to maintain other precaution measures including maintaining physical distance and wearing a mask.

Meanwhile, the general public, who have been badly suffering from the prolonged lockdown, are saying that lockdown is not a solution.

Indeed, in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus in China, where hundreds of thousand people were infected from the coronavirus, within two months of the lockdown the infection rate was brought down to zero levels and the lockdown was lifted. Here, even after six months of lockdown, the pandemic is on the rise.

Of course, the general public have violated the precaution measures, equally, the government officials are responsible as they have also violated the government announced precaution directives.

Discrimination on PCR tests:

The government spokesman is frequently saying for not pressuring the government to conduct PCR tests as it is very expensive. On the other hand, the PR tests are being conducted on those influential leaders having less risk and those people even staying in isolation are unable to receive such a facility. Again, to get the PCR report, those helpless people have to wait for two weeks whereas, VIPs are receiving the report within a day. This is serious discrimination performed by the government that too of the communists!

Dysfunctional government organs:

The government restricted on trans-district transportation and movement of people. In practice, the movement of people could not be stopped. People are found travelling from one district to another by demonstrating the influence of the political leaders, high-ranking officers and military officers. The security personnel deployed at the district borders are found helpless, therefore, they closed their eyes.

Similarly, on repatriation of Nepalis from foreign countries by chartered flights, after arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport, those who can mobilize political leaders, high-ranking officers and military officers, they should not go to the holding centre, instead, can go home directly but those helpless people will have to face many hurdles at the holding centres.

Accordingly, in the name of repatriation of Nepalis, the government charged them expensive airfare than the normal tariff.

The government took the pandemic situation as the opportunity to make profit and commission, on the other hand, the coronavirus outbreak became uncontrolled when the government officials violated the precaution protocol introduced by themselves.

Of late, the Kathmandu Valley, the capital city of the country, has become a hotspot of the coronavirus pandemic. When the government machinery is unable to control the pandemic in the capital city, it is useless to talk about the situation in other districts.

Failure of federalism:

Federalism is the system which empowers the local governments and provincial governments, where, the role of the federal government is very less.

At the present context, except a few local bodies, all the local bodies and the provincial governments have failed to perform an effective role in the fight against the pandemic.

Politics in federal Nepal has become an employment providing platform for the political leaders. Besides, the very platform has become the place to make money through corruption and commission. When all the political leaders from the central level to the grassroots level are busy in making money, they are unable to fight against the pandemic.

The government is enjoying grant from the western countries to retain the present federal structure imposed by them. If there was any other system introduced by the Nepalis themselves, by viewing the daylight loot of the government coffer, the western countries have had already been imposed ban and restrictions on Nepal. As the westerners are on their mission, they have closed their eyes on rampant corruption taking place in Nepal.

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