Coronavirus: So far so good, now let’s think post-lockdown

The Big Lens

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on extending the lockdown till May 3 was on expected lines. India first went into a 21-day coronavirus lockdown which was to end on April 14, a day of great social and religious significance. Modi thanked the people for their cooperation in making the purpose of the lockdown -- social distancing to stop the spread of the pandemic -- a success. Many other countries’ procrastination over declaring lockdowns for fear of economic losses has cost them thousands of valuable lives. The world over, COVID-19 cases have reached alarming proportions, numbering over 2.26 million as of Saturday. In India, the cases number less than 15,000 so far.

India’s early precautions and restrictions on the movement of people have greatly benefitted the country, albeit at a heavy economic cost. But the economy can be revived, lives lost are forever. The lockdown seems to be the only way to slow the spread of the virus as no effective antidote has yet been found for it. So far, only symptoms are being treated and isolation of the patient helps in recovery as well as prevents contamination and spread. Medical experts fear that the deadly coronavirus could start to spread post-lockdown. Still, we can be reasonably confident that even at its peak, it may not be as virulent in India as it was in other countries, provided everybody maintains social distancing, wear masks and practice hygiene in the months to come.

The pandemic has brought countries with excellent and state-of-the-art healthcare infrastructures to their knees. India cannot boast of world-class public healthcare infrastructure. Perhaps it is an inherent high level of immunity (due to various factors), our lifestyle and the indomitable spirit to endure hardships during crises that offers some explanation for India faring better so far. This, no doubt, may be only temporary respite and we can abandon caution only at peril of being drawn inextricably into the vortex of the pandemic. It is in this context that the Prime Minister has warned that areas that may be granted exemption from complete lockdown post-April 20 will still be under watch and any signs of the infection spreading will be strictly monitored.

Again, there are thousands of camps housing migrant workers, with no roadmap for them. The Prime Minister mentioned their woes and sought to reassure them when he said the country had enough food stocks. It would make sense for the government to release some part of this stock for free distribution as the migrant workers and BPL cardholders are cash-starved and cannot afford to buy food grains even at the minimum price. Migrant workers can also be provided point-to-point transportation to reach their villages, with adequate precautions.

Many areas declared as ‘hotspots’ are slum clusters with high population densities where healthcare facilities are scarce and levels of hygiene extremely poor. No doubt, the respective state governments are doing all they can to identify people with positive indication of coronavirus, isolate and treat them and prevent its spreading. As part of the learning curve, it would be advisable for the state governments to prioritise slum clearance projects and redevelop such hotspots with better living conditions. Police forces may have to be given more powers to deal with lockdown violators, especially those doing so on religious grounds.

The government has appealed to non-governmental organisations to assist it in tackling the present crisis in a big way. In fact, slum clearance and redevelopment are some of the areas where NGOs can build bridges with stakeholders. In the past several years, many NGOs that were fly-by-night operators have been identified and their registrations withdrawn. Such black sheep had sullied the image of genuine NGOs, making them suspect in the eyes of the government and the public. It is now for the government to go the extra mile and facilitate the smooth functioning of genuine NGOs without bias or prejudice. Many corporate houses funnel their CSR funds into government projects. The government can consider schemes and tax benefits to divert such CSR funds to registered NGOs so as to strengthen their activities.

The Prime Minister has called on the younger generation, especially those in the scientific community, to come out with solutions that could help tackle the pandemic. For its part, the government should come out with a long-term plan to facilitate researchers, innovators, MSME sector manufacturers, the health sector, infrastructure developers and technocrats to devote more time productively, instead of getting entangled in the regular bureaucratic rigmarole and working capital crunch. It is unfortunate that the Niti Aayog and other such institutions entrusted with these responsibilities are yet to come up to the expectations of the stakeholders, to say the least.