The botch-up!
India continues to be the second most affected country with total cases exceeding 15 million, though 13 million have recovered. There are more than 2 million active cases, and the count is increasing every hour. We may not have exceeded the US numbers of 32 million total cases due to the inadequate number of tests in the rural areas. The governments also, for political reasons, try to suppress the actual affected cases. What cannot be missed is 180550 people have died in India of Covid. In contrast, 23000 soldiers have died in battles in post-independent India.
Death has not come swiftly but has been an agonizing one for the dead. High fever, severe sore throat, diarrhoea and acute breathlessness have compounded the human misery. Many frontline soldiers, doctors, nurses, et al. have succumbed serving the afflicted persons.
The lives of all Indians were controlled and regulated by the Centre, which declared lockdowns and several other strictures from end-March 2020, which is continuing to this day. Rather than understanding the severity from the other nations, India regaled in religious and political gatherings, acting as super-spreaders. We only spent time either blaming the Centre or wasting time supporting it in the management of the virus. There was no strategy to combat the return of the virus in its newer and deadlier mutations.
Medicines like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab or basics like Oxygen have all vanished from the shelves but are available for a hefty premium in the black markets. There are no beds in the hospitals, and alternative isolation and treatment facilities are not visible. Heart-rending scenes of people pleading for saving their dying near and dear ones have become frequent.
Surely, both the Central and the State Governments have a role to play, regardless of the nitty-gritty if Health was a State subject and not even in the concurrent list. The licensing, control and distribution of the vaccines were vested with the Centre until a few hours ago. Murmurs of a mis-governance and a botch-up now witness knee-jerk reactions. Thof e release 50% of vaccines to private hospitals, and the States is no end to any problem. Does the reaction indicate a throw-up of hands and helplessness by the Center?
A former PM writing to PM Modi is trolled as if the government is ordained by the Gods and can do no mistakes. We as citizens have failed to respect, introspect and live up as responsible countrymen. For and against political parties and ideologies rule heavier than imposing self-restraint, social distancing and wearing masks to snap the spread of the virus. Divinity has overtaken science and practical sense for the governments afraid to take unpleasant and unpopular measures, particularly with religious gatherings and political crowding.
The people obliged, braving all difficulties, walking thousands of kilometres back home last year, depressed, jobless, which all seem forgotten now. Governments seem to wake up only when the death toll rises and cremations carried out, bundling many dead together due to scarcity of resources. To sit back saying ‘this is the best any government could do’ requires a revisit and rethink.
We have collectively failed as a nation, tackling the pandemic. The kin of the 180550 dead would consent with my stand! My prayers for the speedy recovery of the former PM Manmohan Singh Ji!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
