The health ministers of Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Wednesday drew attention to the “delayed” response of the central government to the Covid-19 crisis and lamented that even the protracted lockdown period wasn’t effectively used to address concerns on both medical and economic fronts.

Both health ministers insisted that lockdown alone wasn’t the solution and random testing was the best option to detect and isolate affected persons. T.S. Singh Deo of Chhattisgarh and Raghu Sharma of Rajasthan alleged that such testing could not be done for want of testing kits that were to be provided by the Centre.

The health ministers said rapid testing kits imported from China turned out to be faulty, snuffing out the ray of hope that had emerged in a difficult battle that could go on for many more months.

Addressing the media through video, Deo said: “The Centre needed to be more proactive. They started preparations late. The Centre had the information but they acted late. We had only one testing facility in March, which has now been scaled up to 230. PPE (personal protection equipment) kits are still not there. Most hospitals in the states are still doing RT-PCR tests (where samples are collected from the upper respiratory tract) manually because there are no machines.”

The Chhattisgarh health minister added: “We are not saying there is discrimination. But as partners — the states and the Centre — there are gaps. There were strategic lapses. There is no doubt planning started late. We are lagging by two months.”

The central leadership of the Congress has also pointed out that the Narendra Modi government got early warnings and enough time was available to put in place a comprehensive financial and medial action plan.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel had also said the failure of the Centre to prevent people coming from abroad and quarantine those that came as soon as they landed allowed the virus to spread.

Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma said: “All the initial cases were caused by people who came from outside. Our first case was detected when an Italian fell sick and we sent the sample for test to Pune. This was a foreign delegation of 23 persons that had landed in Delhi and visited almost every tourist destination of Rajasthan. We didn’t have any information about their travel plan.

“International flights were allowed till March 22. In Bhilwara, the doctor who infected many persons had come in contact with a person who returned from West Asia. In Jhunjhunu also, people who came from abroad infected several persons.”

Despite a month of lockdown, both the health ministers felt, a fool-proof plan was not ready and the Chinese rapid testing kit debacle appeared to have unsettled them.

Sharma said: “We got 30,000 kits from the Centre. We conducted 168 tests on persons already confirmed positive to check the accuracy. We wanted 90 per cent accuracy and the result through correlation was 5.4 per cent. Then we wrote to the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), which has stopped (rapid) testing now.”

He added: “It is sad that till the ICMR reacted, local BJP leaders accused us of playing politics.”

Asked who was responsible for the import of faulty kits from China, Sharma said: “The ICMR had approved 12 companies. We wrote to them but only four responded, one from South Korea and three from China. As the South Korean company wasn’t ready to deliver early, we placed the order with a Chinese company. We got 10,000 kits on our own and 30,000 from the Centre. The trial was done with the kits supplied by the Centre.”

Sharma suggested that the Centre open the gates of Food Corporation of India godowns as lakhs of people were being fed daily by the states free of cost.

“We haven’t got any financial aid. We need wheat and rice. Protecting people is essential. We don’t want to do politics but the financial condition of the states is very bad. Around 14 states are not in a position to even give salaries to their employees,” the Rajasthan health minister said.

Sharma raised issues like the migrant problem, arguing that arrangements should be made for their return.

“We are getting all kinds of complaints; the poor people from outside stuck here are saying international travellers were given advance warning but the lockdown was imposed at a four-hour notice. We request the Centre to work out the modalities to allow them to go home. Young students are stuck in Kota. Uttar Pradesh took their own, other states should also be allowed to make their arrangements,” he said.

Deo also appeared to be advocating a nuanced approach on restarting economic activities and generating demand.

“Many countries didn’t order lockdowns; they monitored the situation and ensured social distancing. A 49-day lockdown is the optimum level. Fatigue factor may also kick in. Chhattisgarh is yet to have a corona death but a 12-year-old girl who was walking back home died of dehydration. Stranded people are desperate to go home. The coronavirus is going to stay for months, some say two years. We have to learn to live with it,” he said.