by that section whether Yogi was competent enough to handle the disaster of this magnitude .
Another section says that almost at the same time a senior member of Niti Ayog briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Uttar Pradesh was heading for a disaster and if corrective steps are not taken the state would be the biggest hotspot .
That was the time when pictures of cremation grounds , wailing relatives outside hospitals and people clamouring for oxygen and hospital beds were making headlines . Both Modi and Yogi became focus of such criticism and their popularity graphs started dipping . Political pundits prophesied Yogi might even be replaced . No name was suggested , but covertly it was believed that a Thakur would replace a Thakur ( Yogi is Thakur by caste ).
It is in this scenario that Yogi ' s personal tours become key to understanding his strategy . Infrastructure in districts was strengthened . Oxygen tankers started arriving in a matter of days . The covid protocol was restored and the Integrated Covid Command Centres strengthened . But this raises one more question : Is Yogi a oneman army ? Where are his ministers ? Both Deputy Chief Ministers - Dr Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya -were missing from the scene . Initially , Dr Sharma was down with Covid and has now recuperated . The ministers claim they received no directives from the CM ' s Office . They kept track of things by checking with District Magistrates , they said .
Lack of co-ordination between the party and the government was another grey area . Last week , a picture went viral of a notice of BJP president of Bahraich outside his office asking workers not to come to him with requests as " district officials " do not listen to him . The situation has now changed . Once Yogi began his forays into the districts , results have started trickling in . The party organization has started its campaign of distributing ration , medicine or other materials among the people . The ministers too have started coming out of their shells and have started interacting with the masses . There is a sense of optimism in the party and the government now that things are claimed to be turning for the better . There is a belief that the dark days are over and better days are round the corner . ( The writer is Executive Director , News , The Pioneer , Lucknow . The views expressed are personal .) crisis . Despite being infected by the virus himself , the Chief Minister toured 30 districts of Lucknow , Moradabad , Bareilly , Gorakhpur , Varanasi and Ayodhya involving people in the mitigation strategy and seeking their opinions . He has been on foot throughout the surge-monitoring and ensuring that the vaccination centres are wellquipped to carry out the vaccination drive on a war-footing .
Behind every successful model is the relentless and untiring leader who makes sure that policies carried out on the ground mirror those written on paper . By educating the public about the importance of vaccination and disease prevention ,
Adityanath has left no stone unturned in restricting the virus .
The state ' s scientific and welfarecentric covid strategy has helped in averting what could have been one of the most horrifying humanitarian crises of unfathomable magnitude . No wonder , despite having a population of 24-crore people , the daily covid-case count has dwindled to 1,497 in comparison to 18,600 cases in Maharashtra ( with a population of 12 crore ), 28,864 in Tamil Nadu ( 7-crore population ) and 19,894 in Kerala ( 3-crore population ).
With its eyes on the third wave now , the government is taking all necessary steps to establish dedicated paediatric ICUs in every district and a 100-bed PICU ward in each medical college . The goal is to protect children from the ghastly virus as they remain vulnerable on account of not having been vaccinated . The amalgamation between the Triple-T model , partial corona curfew and adequate vaccination push has helped reduce the heavy covid caseload in Uttar Pradesh . Foresightedness and preparation are key to a pandemic and Uttar Pradesh ' s ' Yogi model ' exhibits that perfectly . �
( The writer is an interventional cardiologist and Director at Yashoda Group of Hospitals , Delhi-NCR . The views expressed are personal .)
www . legacyindia . in June 2021 | Legacy India 9