Mumbai: The Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope strongly defended the state government's strategy to combat the coronavirus pandemic saying all decisions were taken considering common man at the centre with transparency and sincerity. He rebutted the charges levelled by the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis that the government has miserably failed to handle the coronavirus pandemic.
Tope, instead, strongly objected to the Centre’s decision to stop supply PPE kits, ventilators and masks at a time when the cases were on the rise. He urged Fadnavis being the blue-eyed boy of Delhi should help restore the supply of these materials to combat the virus.
Tope in his reply told the state assembly that Maharashtra government was the first to announce lockdown on March 22 while the Centre announced nationwide lockdown on March 24. ‘’The state took immediate steps to combat the epidemic after the first Covid-19 patient was found in the state on March 8, 2020. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has been holding discussions with each and every District Collector through video conferencing since the lockdown and even now under 'Mission Begin Again'," he noted.
The minister said Maharashtra was the first state to appoint accountants in private hospitals and instructed the hospital administration to pay the bill to the patient only after checking the bill and finding that it is correct. He assured that the action will be taken against the private hospitals after receiving complaints that they are still charging higher fees. In addition, instructions have been given to reserve 80 per cent beds in private hospitals for the government.
