Maharashtra govt reconstitutes Covid task force, replaces all members

The earlier task force consisted of renowned names including Dr Rahul Pandit (intensive care specialist), Dr Shashank Joshi (diabetologist) and Dr Vasant Nagvekar (infectious disease expert), among others.

The new task force will be headed by Dr Subhash Salunkhe, former state Director General of Health Services. Its other members include Maharashtra University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar, former ICMR member Dr Raman Gangakhedkar and Dr Rajesh Karyakarte from B J Medical College in Pune, among others.

The state government, in a government resolution (GR), has stated that setting up of a new committee was necessary in view of the surge in Covid cases. The task force, with new members, has been mandated with drafting protocol for treating Covid patients.

But the sudden revamp of the task force after two and half years has raised eyebrows as the existing members weren’t even informed about the change. Questions have also been raised about the intent of setting up a new task force.

“The former members were epidemiologists and critical medical experts who had on-ground experience in handling the Covid situation. The newly appointed ones are not practising physicians. What’s the point in reshuffling at the stage of ‘endemic’,” a senior doctor, who did not wish to be named, said.

The new committee also has more members who are from outside Mumbai. Out of the nine newly appointed members, four are from Pune while only Dr Harshad Thakur, a stalwart in the field of public health, is from Mumbai. This has also raised concern among the doctors as Mumbai always records the highest incidence of Covid-19 cases.

“The city has the highest Covid cases and associated fatalities in the state. Considering the huge population of Mumbai, it is important to have more representatives in the committee who know the city’s salient features,” said another doctor.

A former member of the task force also said that he wasn’t even informed about the changes. “I wasn’t even aware of it until someone sent me the GR,” said the doctor.

The state reported 545 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday with two deaths.