Chandigarh, August 22

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked the Congress government to improve health services instead of indulging in coercive shutdowns, which were having a “devastating” effect on small shopkeepers, traders and skilled workers.

Stating that the Congress government was taking unilateral decisions “to hide its failures and prevent large-scale protests”, former minister Daljit Singh Cheema asked the government to strike a balance between lives and livelihood.

“The government should improve ambulance services and hospital infrastructure, increase bed strength and recruit more doctors and nurses. The shutdowns will only result in more crowding in markets when they reopen. This will lead to a spike in Covid cases,” he said. — TNS