Jammu, May 12 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) on Wednesday hit out at the BJP at the Centre for pushing the country into a disaster saying it is due to several blunders of both the central and Union territory governments in dealing with the COVID-19 situation.

The J-K unit appreciated the Congress leadership for setting up a task force of experienced leaders to monitor the grim situation, a press release stated.

Appreciating the initiatives of party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to appoint a COVID task force of experienced leaders besides cautioning the government from time to time about dangers of the first and second waves of the pandemic, the Congress said the BJP government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi consistently ignored the concerns shown by the Congress leadership thereby landing the country in disaster today.

The JKPCC said the disastrous situation faced by the country was a result of several blunders committed by the Modi government as it shifted blame on others and indulged in false propaganda through its blind followers, who fail to realise the pain and sufferings of lakhs of citizens dying without minimum treatment.

The Congress has gone on record to remind the central government of its responsibilities in view of the anticipated threat posed by the raging pandemic but the Modi government not only ignored the Congress' alarm but also ignored the warning signals by its own experts.

"The BJP was more interested in wresting away West Bengal than taking urgent measures to save the people," it said.

The party said when COVID cases were steadily going up, the Government of India exported vaccines to 93 countries and over 9,250 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to other countries against the domestic shortage.

The Congress said the doctors and health workers are facing the brunt of the lack of basic facilities to deal with COVID-19 even after more than one year to fill the gaps and create necessary infrastructure, the JKPCC said.

The people in Jammu and Kashmir are dying for want of necessary facilities, especially inadequate ventilator supported beds and necessary manpower all around, despite best efforts by the doctors and the Lieutenant Governor's administration, they said.

"The centre failed to monitor the health authorities to create the required facilities. As a result, there is acute dearth of facilities to meet the challenge," it said.

There are no ICU beds available in the premier GMC and other GMCs are mostly occupied with heavy pressure on the management. It is all because of shortcomings of the system to deal with the situation of this magnitude, they said.

The BJP government have to own up responsibility in light of the casualties and sufferings of the people and must apologise to the victims and their families for the utter neglect and failures, especially in Jammu.

The Congress demanded immediate vaccination on priority basis to Jammu and Kashmir as it is a backward region with weak health infrastructure and facilities, the handout said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)