Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday, painted a gloomy picture of the COVID-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh saying dead bodies have been queueing up at crematoriums in the state and no treatment is available to the ailing ones.
Yadav, himself in home quarantine after testing positive for the infection, alleged that the dismal COVID-19 situation in the state has arisen because of the BJP’s "cheap mentality" and its "malice" of undoing the work done by his government.
“The ferocity of the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing due to the insensitivity of the BJP government,” alleged Yadav. “People are facing untimely deaths. The dead bodies are queueing up in state crematoriums for last rites,” said the former chief minister.
“What is completely shameful and inhuman that for the cremation of bodies, even complaints of extortions from family members of the dead have begun surfacing,” Yadav claimed, adding “there is no respite in the loot on the pretext of buying wood for cremation”.
He said people at the Suraj Kund crematorium in Meerut are extorting Rs 1,500 from family members for the last rites of the COVID-contaminated bodies of their near and dear ones. They are denying cremation on being refused the money they demand, said Yadav, adding such complaints have been received by authorities at higher levels even in state capital Lucknow.
“There is a dearth of beds and medicines even in hospitals and even non-COVID patients are not getting any treatments,” he said. Yadav alleged the “criminals and those enjoying government protection” have turned the humanitarian crisis of COVID-19 into an opportunity to fill their pockets.
