‘Do something’ is what people are asking of their government as the cases of SARSCoV2 infections rise through the country. PM Modi after his sound and light show in the early days of the lockdown has now suggested a ‘Tika utsav’ to promote Covid vaccinations. But one can’t survive on the apparition of an idea no matter how festive and instagramable.
The haste to get back to normal is politically expeditious but what is unconscionable is not having plan to deal with spread of the virus in a business-as-usual mode.
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The socio-economic repercussions of the Modi lockdown and the attempted graded return to normalcy provided more than enough opportunities to learn and prepare for the reality of a second wave and the rise of Covid variants. But it seems India continues to be led by grand proclamations and duplicitous actions.
India exported nearly 60 million doses of the Covid vaccine. It sure helped our Dear Leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image abroad. However, in the continuing attempts to build his image abroad – which transforms into respect for India – citizens are currently facing a vaccine shortage. One needs to question the sacrifices that the common person unwittingly has to make for the greater glory of our respected leader and therefore the country.
India had one of the highest number of Covid cases in 2020 and now has the second highest number of infections. It has a large population, many of whom are not socio-economically well off and therefore do not have easy access to healthcare facilities, it was natural to assume that the government would first take care of its people. This should have been done by first ensuring sufficient stocks of the vaccine for the country and then creating vaccination centers across the country. There were 120,000 vaccination centers as on April 3, 2021. On April 7, 2021 it had fallen to 60,000.
For a population of over a billion, will 120,000 centers be enough to ensure a large enough population gets vaccinated in the shortest possible time? It is hard to swallow that our respected PM, who the country prides for his leadership and futuristic thinking, did not look slightly ahead to see the impact of exporting 60 million doses of the vaccine.
But that is not the only problem here, while asking his countrymen to take care of their health by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and promoting vaccination he and his party have organised massive political rallies across the election going states. Would it be prescient to say that if there is a spike in cases in West Bengal and Kerala the BJP will blame the current state governments for not handling the crisis properly? It would seem that once again the common person is being sacrificed for political gains of India’s largest and richest political party.
But the central government is not the only one to blame.
It seems that Rahul Gandhi has more foresight than Narendra Modi, what with his early premonition of the impact of Covid and suggestions on vaccination roll-out. It was common knowledge in 2020 that there would be state elections in 2021. I am sure he knew that there would be political rallies, it does not take much to appreciate the danger of holding public rallies in these Covid times. Why couldn’t the Congress and other parties suggest alternatives to rallies to ensure a safer way of conducting the elections? Joe Biden won the elections without holding a face-to-face political rally.
The EC is to blame too for the potential making the electoral process a super spreader. They had enough time to come up with ways to ensure a healthy election.
In early March 2020, there was a major uproar and much consternation about the Tablighi Jamaat creating a super spreader. The government should have realised the threat of large gatherings that consisted of people from across the nation, if not the globe. The ongoing Kumbh Mela has every potential of becoming a super spreader. There is no hope in hell that authorities will succeed in ensuring devotees stick to Covid safety precautions. Infact, there is enough data to show that devotees are flouting all safety protocols. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shifted the blame of the handling of the pandemic to the almighty, now the Chief Minister of the state of Uttrakhand has invited people to the Khumb Mela saying “the faith of devotees will overcome the fear of Covid-19”. He tested positive to the virus two days after making this statement. It is still early days for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to label the Kumbh Mela as a ‘super spreader’. But don’t hold your breath.
At a recent pandemic review meeting with Chief Ministers, our dear PM said there is no need for a second lockdown and claimed that India is equipped to handle the second wave. He has suggested states implement night curfews and label them ‘Corona Curfews’. By labelling the night curfews in this manner he believes that people will get educated about the disease and appreciate its highly infectious nature. Many are sure that our learned PM knows something that scientists don’t – that the virus only works at night.
As on 11.30 pm April 11, 2021, there were 1,69,899 fresh cases of COVID-19. There have been political rallies, major religious events, a scarcity of vaccine doses and the closure of vaccine centers. It has been said that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burnt, undoubtedly it is politically expedient to carry on in a business-as-usual mode with focus on economic growth. Since the early days of the pandemic the right noises have been made about dealing with the virus – the country reeled under the sudden Janta Lockdown, the promise of containing the virus in 21 days, the suggestion of banging thalis, and lighting diyas. In 2021, after promoting a ‘tika utsav’, and suggesting a night ‘Corona Curfew’, citizens can only plead ‘Aur Kuch Corona.’
(Samir Nazareth is an author and writes on socio-economic and environmental issues)
