Pandemic Politics

Anil Anand
COVID-19 pandemic- as India struggles hard to overcome this serious challenge with the number of virus affected cases having crossed the one lakh figure, there is a raging debate on the Governments’, both Centre and the states, response on this front. The debate is likely to get shriller by the day and rightly too. The logical end to this debate should be a fair assessment of our strengths and weaknesses so as to prepare the system for any such future challenge.
This seems unlikely and the root cause of this unlikelihood lies in the nature of Indian democracy, and also the nature of political leaders- it changes and varies from being in the opposition to be on the treasury benches. As we are in the midst of fighting the deadly virus the strong ruling party and the scattered and sequestered opposition parties seem nowhere to be near giving an impression of waging this fight back in a united manner. This is not the time for blame-game but certainly for a fair assessment even at the levels of the public, as to how much the Governments have been able to deliver on ground. It should also entail assessing their politics-whether it was focused on public welfare or on electoral issues.
The biggest crisis that the pandemic has unfolded, as its off-shoot, is that of the migrant workers. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh there is a steady stream of lakhs of workers taking all available modes of transport, and if not that walking on foot irrespective of the distance to reach their villages and towns. Is it a panic reaction or are they really running for their lives to the psychological safety of their homes and hearths? It is a mixture of both resulting due to the abject failure of primarily the Centre and to some extent several state governments to adopt a coordinated approach and inability to foresee the events.
The manner in which the migrant workers issue has been mishandled is a glaring index of the failure of the governing system on many fronts. The handling lacked both planning and above all the compassion. It was due to lack of coordination that the Congress and BJP’s UP government led by Yogi Adityanath had been fighting on the road on the issue of former offering to provide 1000 buses for ferrying migrant workers and the latter refusing on one pretext or the other. The refusal or acceptance could have been done in a more dignified manner. Ultimately the fight turned out to be political with the migrant worker ending up becoming a football.
Notwithstanding the tall claims being made by the powers that be, the governance system has been thoroughly exposed in its entirety. It has been exposed at the levels of the Centre, and it has been exposed in the states irrespective of the colour and creed of the political party ruling there. Making tall claims is endemic to a democratic system such as ours and the current situation is no exception. However, given the nature of the pandemic and the dangers posed by the virus, it was expected that the focus would be on the issue itself and the vast multitude of masses but that was not to be.
Various models, some initially true and others imaginary, touted as the success stories have been sent crashing by deficient handling of the challenge on the health front. Starting from monolithic model of the centre wherein there is little role for the states, despite the federal values enshrined in the Constitution, to Bhilwara model of Rajasthan, to Agra Model of Uttar Pradesh, to Delhi model, to Tripura and many other states, in the ultimate the COVID-19 virus exposed these all. The common thread is the deficient system.
Yes, the COVID-19 virus is new and unknown to the scientists’ fraternity and logically the Governments would not know anything about it. But a good administrative set up in place and run with the spirit of carrying everyone along could go a long way in reducing the sufferings. The bureaucratically top-heavy administrative sets up at the Centre and the states with bureaucrats, barring some exceptions, willing to blindly follow their political masters, and a lack of talent in the political executive, are the bane of the problem afflicting the set up.
Truly, the COVID-19 pandemic has thoroughly exposed the vulnerabilities of the healthcare system, but it has also exposed the inadequacies in some other related sectors such as education, general administration and more significantly the Research and Development.
Keeping aside the tall claims of the Government on achievements in healthcare front, the pandemic has proved beyond any doubt that the system is grossly inadequate. It is inadequate in terms of quality infrastructure and trained manpower or the medical paraphernalia.
The COVID-18 pandemic has already sounded an alarm bell on fixing the system with a sense of urgency. This urgency flows from the glaring fact that if the deadly virus could shake the system in developed countries such as USA and United Kingdome, India should certainly do some serious thinking.
Another significant reflection of this shortcoming was in very low number of COVID-19 tests that India has carried out. This was primarily due to lack of testing equipments and related facilities. Rather than facing the truth the Government agencies concerned are indulging in suppressing data on the number of tests. So, it resulted in a showdown between the Union Health Ministry and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
By now it is clear that nothing would stop the migrating workers from travelling to their homes and certainly not the force as has been tried at some places in the states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar. Although they have been subjected to immense sufferings due to inapt handling, lack of coordination and mal-administration, there is still chance to act on this front.
It makes no difference what is the mode of transportation and who is providing it, the Governments of the day should accept any offer that could help in transportation of the migrant workers to their native places in a safe and dignified manner and with as less trouble as possible. The red-tapism should be quelled and the political leaders and political parties should stop viewing the problem from the prism of electoral politics.
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