On the one hand, the covid situation has taken a turn for the worse. On the other, the gold smuggling case probe has ‘reached’ the Secretariat.

The covid situation first. The frightening surge in positive cases has crossed the 1000 threshold twice in the last three days. The Kerala capital of Thiruvananthapuram is the worst hit with a scary spike in cases through contacts. The situation in Pulluvila and Punthura, the hottest spots, has shown no improvement at all. What is worse is that the virus is spreading to new areas in the neighbourhood of the two hamlets. Large clusters are forming in panchayats like Bheema Palli, Anjuthengu and Pudukurissi.

Reports from other districts are equally worrisome. Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kozhikode have witnessed an alarming rise in the number of cases through contacts. Severe restrictions have been clamped on Thrissur district with a triple lockdown being imposed in Irinjalakuda municipal areas and two panchayats.

The rapidly deteriorating situation has forced the Government to seriously consider clamping down a statewide lockdown. But the all-party meeting held on Friday has opposed it. A total lockdown would create unpredictable consequences. That was the overwhelming view at the all-party meeting.

Accordingly, the Government has ruled out an immediate total lockdown. But it will have to go in for total lockdown if the situation shows no improvement.

In a welcome step, the Government has increased the number of tests. As a result, the rate of positivity has, understandably, gone up. The Government has obviously veered round to the view, supported by health experts, that the strategy should be test, isolate and treat. Therefore, the coming weeks would see a big rise in the number of tests.

What must cause grave concern is the rising number of positive cases among the health staff, including doctors. The disturbing phenomenon has induced the Government to consider introducing an insurance scheme for the health staff. The earlier the Government does that, the better. The health staff certain ly need to be given greater protection.

Meanwhile, the gold smuggling case investigation has entered a decisive phase with the National Investigation Agency(NIA) interrogating top officers in the State Government Secretariat. The NIA team has, for instance, sought CCTV clips and sightings for the first two weeks of June.

In another move, as many as eight officers of the Customs probe team have been shifted. The move has set tongues wagging in the political corridors. The decision has evoked protests from the Customs Preventive Section.

In an equally significant move, the former Principal Secretary of the Chief Minister, M. Shivashanker, who has already been quizzed by the NIA and the Customs, has been summoned to the NIA headquarters for further interrogation. The million dollar question doing the rounds is: Has Shivashanker, who has close links with one of the accused in the case, extended them any help in their gold smuggling activities?

If the answer to that question is in the affirmative, then the Government would come under greater pressure. The Opposition parties, waiting for the ‘kill’, have already decided to intensify their protests by launching statewide agitations in the first week of August. But the Opposition will have to be careful because the High Court has banned all ‘struggles’ during covid times. How the Opposition will get around the ban will be keenly watched.

The CPI(M) has, in the meantime, decided to examine all appointments made through consultancies. The party, which has asserted itself for the first time in a long period, also held a meeting of the personal staff of all ministers , and advised them to exercise greater caution in their interaction with the middlemen and other power brokers who are on the prowl to further their personal agenda.

The move has come a bit late in the day as the damage has already been done. The activities of the former Principal Secretary to the CM has, undoubtedly, brought the Government into disrepute. That was the view at the meeting of the CPI(M) secretariat. The party could have – and should have - frowned upon the undesirable activities of a few officers in the Chief Minister’s Office earlier. Its failure to do so could exact a heavy political as well as electoral price on the party and the Government led by it. Another case of poor timing. (IPA Service)