Quarantine centres in Uttar Pradesh are so bad they have become 'torture camps': SP

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged the quarantine centres in Uttar Pradesh are so bad that they have become "torture camps" due to the "apathetic attitude" of the Yogi Adityanath government.

He also demanded that the government makes public the account of its expenditure in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

"The chief minister used to make big claims about arrangements in quarantine centres. But the reality is that, now they have become torture camps, whose situation is very bad," Yadav said in a statement.

"The officers have put migrant labourers as animals in quarantine centres made in ponds and secluded places. The BJP government is highlighting these as 5-star arrangements. At various places labourers, doctors and nurses had protested against it also," he said.

The Samajwadi Party chief said at a quarantine centre in the chief minister's constituency Gorakhpur a snake entered the bed of a labourer, while a teenage boy at a quarantine centre in Gonda a died due to snake bike in a centre.

The complaints of poor food and unavailability of staff are common. The government is more interested in bus debate and not so about bringing back stranded in other states, he said.

Demanding that the money spent in dealing with COVID-19 be made public, the Samajwadi Party chief said, "People have the right to know where it is spent."