Kerala chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) differed from the central body in moving SC on Bakrid relaxations and comparing it with UP바카라s Kanwar Yatra
As the Supreme Court on Monday sought an explanation from the Kerala government on the three-day easing of Covid -19 restrictions for Bakrid festival on July 21, a leader of the ruling Communist Party Of India (Marxist) CPI (M) said that there is no question of canceling the relaxations, however, it will abide by the SC order.
Speaking to Outlook, CPI (M) leader and politburo member M A Baby said that the state won바카라t cancel the Bakrid relaxations and it will file the affidavit as directed by the Court. 바카라We will file the affidavit. Let the SC decide. If the SC asks us to close down shops, we will go by it,바카라 he said.
The Kerala government announced three-day lockdown restrictions for Bakrid on Sunday, in which shops selling clothes, footwear, jewelry, gift items, home appliances and electronics will be allowed to function.
At present, the state follows a categorized lockdown method based on Test positivity rate (TPR). However, the state is facing pressure from many quarters to reformulate its strategy, which allows shops and business establishments to open only on alternate days. The traders in the state have also threatened to open shops flouting government orders.
The government's decision to lift restrictions ahead of Bakrid is seen as a step to pacify the traders, who are on warpath. However, the issue has snowballed into a political row after Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi described it as a 바카라deplorable act by Kerala government to provide three days relaxations for Bakra eid celebrations especially because it's one of the hotbeds for Covid-19 바카라
He also said 바카라if Kanwar Yatra was wrong, so were the relaxations for Bakrid'. However, the Congress state unit refrained from commenting on the matter. Speaking to Outlook, opposition leader V D Satheesan said that the party has decided against commenting on the issue. 바카라The AICC has made it clear that it was Singhvi바카라s personal opinion. We offer no comments on the issue,바카라 he said. Reacting to Singhvi바카라s tweet, M A Baby said that it shows his ignorance in the matter. 바카라Apparently Singhvi is ignorant about what has been permitted by the Kerala government. There are no celebratory processions as part of Bakrid. No relaxation has been given to any demonstrative activity as part of the festival. People need to buy food items and clothes. For Bakrid, additional days have been permitted to make purchases,바카라 says Baby.
It has also sparked another controversy with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) issuing strong warming that it will move Supreme Court if the state does not cancel relaxations. A statement issued by the IMA said, 바카라When many northern states like J&K, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal have stopped, with a constructive sense of public safety the traditional and popular pilgrimage Yatras, it is unfortunate that learned state of Kerala had taken these retrograde decisions,".
However, it turns out that the Kerala chapter of the IMA and the parent body are not on the same page regarding the decision to approach SC on lifting relaxations. On the contrary, the IMA Kerala chapter has been demanding a relook at the lockdown strategy of the state government and was quite critical about it. A week ago, it has issued a strong-worded statement asking the government to allow shops to be opened for more time to reduce the spread.
Dr TS Anish, a member of the state expert committee of Covid- 19 says that the IMA Kerala chapter and its central unit seem to have divergent views on lifting the curbs for Bakrid celebrations. 바카라The Kerala IMA has been demanding to open shops daily and to increase working hours to 12 hours rather than eight. They were saying that super spreading can avoid that way. Now they have gone silent on the Bakrid relaxation,바카라 says Anish, who is an associate professor, community medicine, Trivandrum Medical College.
Another doctor on conditions of anonymity says that the IMA central unit did not hold any discussion with the Kerala chapter on approaching the SC on Bakrid relaxations. He feels that there is a concerted effort by a section at the central level to project Kerala as responsible for the third wave if there바카라s one. 바카라The center wants to divert the attention from the shortage of vaccines and their mishandling of the second wave of the pandemic,바카라 he says.
Dr Sulphi Noohu, state president-elect of Kerala IMA told Outlook that during the relaxation period, the government has to ensure that the crowd adheres to Covid protocol.
바카라We didn바카라t raise any particular demand for Bakrid. However, for a long time, we have been asking the government to allow shops to open daily and increase the working hours. If they allow shops to open only a few days, it will attract a crowd. I don바카라t think there바카라s any point in moving the court regarding the Bakrid relaxations바카라. He also points out that the government has already laid down certain norms for the trade bodies during the three days. 바카라They have to ensure that the salespersons have got at least one dose of vaccine and make sure that customers stick to the physical distance rules. If there is overcrowding, then it will be a disaster,바카라 he adds.
The debate should be more on increasing the vaccination than Covid relaxations, he says.
Dr A. Althaf, Convenor, Kerala IMA epidemic control cell, says that the Kerala chapter has demanded to increase the working hours of business establishments. 바카라Crowding is bad news for curbing the spread, especially festivals. If rules are strictly enforced during these three days, we can avoid the spread. Kerala has shown the way for the world in controlling the virus in many ways,바카라 says Althaf.
Dr Anish says that short-duration relaxations can work as a trial run to monitor the trajectory of the virus in the coming days. He also says that this step will come as a relief for local businesses, which are battered by the pandemic. 바카라I agree that that the relaxation may lead to a rise in Covid numbers. But it will give some sort of relief to the local economy. It바카라s only for three days and we can consider it as a pilot testing to see how the virus behaves after easing the restrictions a bit. We assume that the herd immunity may have grown into 50-60 percent due to vaccination and a large number of the infected population in the second wave. A seroprevalence survey can give us a better idea,바카라 he says.
Though the lifting of restrictions came as a breather for the traders, the community is anguished by the adverse response from some political parties and IMA.
G Karthikeyan, President Kerala Merchants chamber of Commerce (KMCC) says that the campaigns against Bakrid relaxations seem to be politically motivated. 바카라We only care about our livelihood and certain sections are trying to communalize it. When beverage shops opened, there were no concerns like this. We have been requesting the government to allow us to open shops daily for a long time,바카라 he says, adding that if the Supreme Court orders to cancel relaxation, they will obey the order.
바카라We have always adhered to Covid protocols. If the SC decides to cancel the relaxations, we will obey it. Either Corona or hunger will kill us,바카라 he says.