Centre lectures Bengal on COVID-19, but doesn't provide proper testing kits: Mamata

Amid bitter face-off between the Centre and the West Bengal government over COVID-19 preparedness, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of not providing proper testing kits to the state.

Launching a scathing attack on the Union government, Banerjee said: "Everyday they (Centre) are telling us what to do and what not to do, sending people to look into the law and order situation and our preparedness against coronavirus. They are sending us strongly worded letters. We can also send them letters. But that's not the point," she said.

She said canards are being spread every day that only a few are getting tested in West Bengal for COVID-19. 

"This is absolutely false. Faulty kits were sent to Bengal which have now been withdrawn. We didn't even get adequate testing kits," Banerjee said at a press conference.

West Bengal had locked horns with Centre after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs sent two teams to the state to review the situation in districts identified as COVID-19 hotspots.

A total of six Inter Ministerial Central Teams have been deputed to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal to review the implementation of the lockdown measures after making on-spot assessment of the situation prevailing in identified select districts.

In West Bengal, one team will visit Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and East Medinipur while the other team will travel to Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The first team was led by Chandra while the second team was led by Joshi, both additional secretary rank officers in the central government.

The teams comprise public health specialists and officers of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), whose expertise can be leveraged by the state government for management of COVID-19 pandemic.

West Bengal claimed that the state government was informed about the teams' visit three hours after their arrival in the state, which they said was unacceptable.

On Tuesday, the Centre had accused the West Bengal government of not cooperating with the central teams and also said that the state government was specifically restraining the teams from interacting with health workers and touring the affected areas.

However, in his reply, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said it was not a fact that the two IMCTs have not been provided with any cooperation by the state government since he had two meetings with one team and also was in touch with the other.