Centre team says West Bengal not cooperating, row escalates | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Centre team says West Bengal not cooperating, row escalates

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Apr 26, 2020 06:09 AM IST

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the Centre of maligning the state and spreading “canards” about its testing figures when the “real problem” was with the testing kits supplied to the state.

One of the two interministerial central teams (IMCTs) sent to West Bengal to assess how the state was dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic has again complained that it is not getting support in accessing hospitals and that local officials are refusing to accompany it.

The central teams have sought escorted visits to hospitals and Personal Protection Equipment from the West Bengal government.(Samir Jana/ HT photo)
The central teams have sought escorted visits to hospitals and Personal Protection Equipment from the West Bengal government.(Samir Jana/ HT photo)

The state and the Centre have exchanged words over the central teams and the availability of testing kits. The team in question has pointed to several gaps in West Bengal’s response to Covid-19, most of which the loal administration has denied.

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West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the Centre of maligning the state and spreading “canards” about its testing figures when the “real problem” was with the testing kits supplied to the state.

In a letter to West Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha and Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Saturday, the leader of one of the IMCTs, Apurva Chandra, said that even as the team repeatedly seeks a schedule of visits to hospitals, quarantine centres and containment zones, it is being given only half-an-hour notice for the visits when they happen.

Chandra referred to Sinha’s press statements that the teams are free to visit anywhere but “senior officers of the state government cannot waste their time accompanying the IMCTs” and termed it a violation of Union home ministry’s order directing the state government to provide logistics support and facilitate field visits of IMCTs.

Hitting out at the central teams, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said their real aim was to spread the virus in West Bengal as they visited districts with no hot spots and asked the state for an audit committee that had already been in place since early April.

“Their real aim is to spread the political virus. They are doing it shamelessly. Blatantly. Take your pick. IMCT = India’s Most Callous Team. IMCT = I must cause trouble (in Bengal),” O’Brien said.

The central teams have sought escorted visits to hospitals and Personal Protection Equipment from the West Bengal government.

Chandra in his letter said the state is also yet to provide any further details on aspects such as supply of essential commodities, conditions in relief camps, enforcement of lockdown measures etc. “IMCT has been in Kolkata since 10 am on April 20. Four letters have been written by IMCT to the state government till today. No response has been received to any of the letters till date,” Chandra said in his letter on Saturday. HT has seen a copy of the letter.

Chandra asked the West Bengal government whether it will take responsibility of their safety and security in the absence of police escort and if the Border Security Force is permitted to take any action to ensure their safety in case of any incident.

A central government official, who did not wish to be named, said another central team visited Kalimpong on Saturday on its own after informing the chief secretary. “They returned without visiting any hospital or meeting with the district magistrate or chief medical officer-- all refused to meet the team,” the official said.

The central teams has asked West Bengal to furnish the details of quarantined and tested persons, who returned from to the state after visiting Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters in New Delhi that last month emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot.

North Bengal affairs minister Rabindranath Ghosh said, “They (IMCT) are only wasting the time of officers. They should visit other states instead.”

The IMCT headed by Chandra had earlier highlighted several anomalies in its letter to Sinha after visiting two hospitals in Kolkata. It said there was a waiting period of at least five days for test results of patients in isolation wards and possibility of dead bodies lying on beds in wards for four hours and a lack of social distancing at hospitals.

Apart from West Bengal, the Centre has also deputed inter-ministerial teams to Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to probe perceived lapses in efforts to control Covid-19 and violations of lockdown regulations.

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