Is the Rs 64,000 cr Silver Line project more important than Kerala's Covid Brigade?

Veena George
Health Minister Veena George

Health minister Veena George made a surprising remark in the Assembly on Tuesday. She said the Covid Brigade, an army of health workers conscripted from among the population to fight the pandemic, had to be disbanded after the Centre withdraw its assistance of Rs 37 crore.

The Centre's assistance stopped on October 31, and consequently the 19,500-odd members of the Brigade were asked to quit.

"We found it really tough to mobilise such money," the minister said. For a government this money is insignificant; the amount of Rs 37 crore is just 0.02% of Kerala's GDP or 1.58% of Kerala's annual plan outlay of Rs 2341.14 crore for 'public health and sanitation', less than even the money set apart in the Budget for relatively less urgent activities like Champions Boat League and Biennale.

It was also strange, even ironical, that the 'fund shortage' remark came from a member of a government that had spent nearly Rs 110 crore on just the cloth bags required to distribute free food kits during the pandemic.

Congress MLA P C Vishnunath posed a rhetorical question. "How come a government that has no qualms about spending Rs 64,000 crore for a rail project that would destroy Kerala find it so difficult to mop up Rs 37 crore that would save the lives of thousands, " he said.

Vishnunath said the absence of the Brigade was putting tremendous pressure on doctors fighting the pandemic. He said doctors in medical colleges and COVID centres across Kerala were finding it hard to keep the labs functioning 24x7.

The Covid Brigade was like a crack team that included workers with various skill sets, from paramedical staff and ambulance drivers to lab technicians and data entry operators. They were deployed in hospitals for all additional works like the collection of swabs and data entry, leaving the doctors and nurses to concentrate on treatment and patient care. The moment the Brigade wound up, even daily tests had gone down. If on October 9 Kerala had processed nearly one lakh COVID tests, a month later on November 9, the number of tests processed has dwindled to 65,000. It was also reported that districts were asked to cut down on the daily RT-PCR tests.

Nonetheless, after the Opposition criticised the dissolution of the Brigade in the Assembly on Tuesday, the minister conceded its importance. Veena George assured that the Brigade would be revived.

"We have directed the Health Department to recruit members for the Brigade through the National Health Mission or hospital development committees," the minister said.

George said the central assistance for the Brigade had stopped in March this year, before the second wave lashed across Kerala. "But we had asked for an extension and increased the strength of the Brigade from 13,000 to over 19,500 when there was a surge during May and June," she said, acknowledging the role played by the Brigade in combating the second wave.

When the new recruitment is done, the minister said the former members of the Brigade would get priority. It has also been reported that the government had not settled the dues of many Brigade members.

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