The recall of Dr. Anil Jasinghe!

by I. P. C. MENDIS

Some occurrences in daily life can draw inspiration from Biblical texts. One such rare instance is the recent recall of Dr. Anil Jasinghe, former Director General of Health Services, and at present Secretary Ministry of Environment, back to the Covid-19 Task Force. The Samagi Balavegaya has been of late questioning the government on the void created by the removal of Dr. J, from the Heath Ministry with a promotion and why he had not been permitted to continue in the Task Force. The government’s explanation of his promotion failed to hold water, and the Health Minister finally relented in Parliament without much ado, to say he would be back in the saddle.

The irony of it all was that the very persons who questioned the veracity of numbers of infections given by Dr. J during Covid-19 (Wave 1), and accused him connivance to influence the result of the parliamentary election, did start extolling the virtues of Dr.J ‘s services in desperation.

However ” All’s well that ends well’ and both government and Opposition have chosen to eat the humble pie. Dr. J on his part, has displayed remarkable humility and public spiritedness in his reactions and interviews.

He proved to be a good combination of both theoretical knowledge and practical understanding, and an epitome of an ideal public officer, judging from the deftness with which he has fielded all questions about his temporary absence from the Task Force; refusing to get caught at the slips ( Talk with Chatura). What can and does determine success is attitude. The pandemic will have its own designs, Dr. J may not be able to undo any wrong measures that may have been taken, but he certainly could be expected to make a worthy contribution towards mitigating the severity of the current wave of Covid-19.