New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry and the states have begun to trade charges on the swine flu with Ghulam Nabi Azad hinting that Health Ministers in some states were taking life too easy. The states in question are furious.
"I have been working for 18 to 20 hours, maybe my officers aren't, I pity them," said Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Health Minister.
Ghulam Nabi Azad slammed state Health Ministers on their sluggish response to H1N1, injecting politics into the virus.
"I have been able to contact Chief Ministers of particular states, but not the health ministers. They should have been chasing me, not the other way!" Azad added.
Leading the list of offended health ministers was BJP-ruled Gujarat.
"He means that the Centre is burning the midnight oil and the states are playing hooky. The Union Health Minister is using words like bloody. This is just not done. We need to work together," said Jaynaraya Vyas, Gujarat Health Minister.
But the Union Minister is adamant: The Centre is doing its best but health is a state subject and the states have to get their act together.
States like Maharashtra which have borne the brunt of the flu maintain they have done their best.
"We have done as good a job as we could possibly do. I also say go and check on the Net what other countries have done. Go and check," said Sharvaree Gokhale, Maharashtra Health Secretary.
"Tomorrow I am holding a high level meeting with health officials from across the state on H1N1," said BS Yeddyurappa, Karnataka Chief Minister.
As the virus claims more and more lives, the blame game is pitched.
The war of words, an indication that India still scrambling to build an effective response and not quite there.