Jharkhand CM urges PM Modi to permit availing service of paramedics deployed in state

Amid the surge in COVID-19 infections in the state, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to permit the state to avail services of doctors and paramedics of Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) and military hospitals in the state in combating the COVID-19 crisis.

Soren in his letter opined that more than 90% of the cases were asymptomatic during the first wave of COVID-19 and the number of persons requiring the support of oxygen or ventilator was also not very high. He added that the state government did not anticipate the second wave to be so virulent as the country has begun vaccination on a large scale.

"We had anticipated the second wave to be less virulent due to vaccination and herd immunity. But it has surprisingly turned out to be extremely virulent. We are trying to fight this pandemic with whatever medical infrastructure and resources are available in this backward state. All the doctors and paramedics available in the government and the private sector are being optimally utilized. But, the requirement to handle the current caseload is much higher than the availability," Chief Minister wrote.

"..each such company of CMPF deployed in Jharkhand is manned by a certain number of doctors and paramedics. Similarly, there are two Military Hospitals located at Ranchi and Ramgarh catering to the medical requirement of 23 Infantry Divison, Sikh Regiment and Punjab Regiment. I feel the contingent of doctors and paramedics available with the aforesaid establishments can be of immense help in case they are deployed for the treatment and management of COVID-18 patients," Soren said.

COVID-19 situation in Jharkhand

Earlier in the day, the chief minister convened an all-party meet to review the situation and discuss plans to control the spread of the virus. The state has recorded the highest single-day spike of 3,843 cases and 59 fatalities in 24 hours on Friday. The total tally of COVID-19 infections in the state has reached 155,115 cases, of which 23,045 are active cases and 1,376 have died due to the virus, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. A total of 1,30,694 people have recovered from the infection.

A few days back, a video of a daughter lashing out at hospital authorities had sent shock waves across the nation. The daughter was lashing at the hospital authorities after her father succumbed to COVID-19 while waiting for the doctors to provide medical aid at the Ranchi hospital. Moreover, the incident occurred at a time when the state's Health Minister Banna Gupta was on a visit to the hospital to inspect the COVID-19 ward of the hospital.

The video showed her saying that she repeatedly called for doctors at the hospital but none available to attend to her ailing father who needed immediate attention, but none came to the rescue.

"Mr. Minister, we kept on shouting for doctors but none of the doctors came. No doctor came. What were they doing? Do people come here to die like this? I have been waiting for one hour asking for a doctor," the girl said in the video recorded by the onlookers.

The incident has shed light on the issue of poor health infrastructure in the state and the medical apathy which the state citizens are dealing with amid the pandemic.