First, this weak government has failed to implement its own decisions. The government on Sunday made a decision to treat all those affected by earthquake free of cost in hospitals, both public and private, all over the country. But when I went to the nearest medical facility from my home to have my broken toe X-rayed and plastered, I found that it was not the case.While trying to run to safety on Saturday, unfortunately, I broke a toe. At first I was too worried about my life like everyone else to notice it. Then it started to swell and even then I thought it was nothing serious. However, by the third day, the pain was excruciating and I decided to go to a hospital.
The nearest hospital from where I live is a private one, Himal Hospital. There, despite the government's decision to make the medical facilities free, I was charged Rs 500 for X-ray and Rs 450 for expert advice. The Orthopedic "surgeon" told me I didn't need a cast and that I should visit him after three weeks. All that I got from spending Rs 950 and waiting for almost an hour for the specialist was that I got my toes wrapped in surgical tape and was told to come after three weeks. Not believing him, I took a second opinion at Teaching Hospital. The doctor who applied plaster cast to my leg at Teaching Hospital told me that if I had waited for three weeks the consequences would have been severe.
Imagine if this happens to someone who follows the news and is aware of his rights. What is happening to those who have not been able to follow the news and fear to ask questions? The government weakness is evident from the fact that even when a television channel aired the report that a hospital rumored to be close the Maoists was charging people money, there is no news of government punishing the hospital.
Furthermore, the government does not seem to understand that disasters strike everyone alike, rich or poor, and it is its duty to make people feel, whether in rural or urban areas, that they can count on it. Ours is a different tale altogether.
While everyone in my neighborhood was scared and lived in an open space nearby, we did not have a single visitor representing the state. No one from the local body or from the police or the military came to ask us if anyone was missing or injured or if we needed anything. There were a lot of families sleeping without a tent and blankets as they were scared to go inside their houses, which were either cracked or had fallen down.
No, not a single representative or even a bottle of water! And as of this writing, after six days of the tragedy, we still have no visitors from the state to assess the needs and the damage. If this is the case in the neighborhood that is between the Narayanhiti Museum and the Nepal Police Headquarters, imagine how it is in rural areas which have been the worst affected. They feel abandoned, angry and hurt. Perhaps more hurt that the state is yet to make its presence felt in this hour of need.
The government's lackluster response seems to stem from the fact that they take us to be gullible and we swallow everything they tell us. For them we are robots with no conscience or intellect. And this mistaken belief is going to cost them dear. The chances of a real revolution and/or spontaneous people's movements that will overthrow the post-2006 political order are likely. Angry, tormented, frustrated and hurt people can go to any extent to punish those who have abandoned them at this point of need. Scary as it sounds, perhaps, it is the only option we have left.
trailokyaa@yahoo.com
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