“There is no doubt that India would have managed the Covid crisis better if the Government based its policies on the advice of health experts rather than relying on ancient traditions and beliefs. Banging of the thalis, lighting candles, and switching off lights at a certain time in the evening will not end this epidemic. It takes dedicated leadership that relies on science and depends on valuable advice from the country’s renowned epidemiologists. This is just another reminder to build more hospital facilities especially in rural areas to combat a sudden increase in demand in any future crisis. Building statues and other monuments may make us proud but will not substitute institutions that would serve people’s daily needs and their career aspirations.”

‘India is gasping for oxygen,’ said Rahul Gandhi, apparently referring to the shortage of oxygen flagged by several state governments as the country is once again fighting the Covid-19 in a second wave which many health experts have predicted. The seven-day average now stands at 264,838, which means that this new outbreak is the largest ever recorded in the world. There is little doubt that the country appears to be in a severe health crisis where patients are being turned away due to lack of oxygen, ventilators, or even beds.

In early March, India’s health minister Harsh Vardhan declared that India was “in the end game” of this Pandemic and applauded Prime Minister Modi’s statesmanship in this regard. Soon, India started shipping millions of doses of vaccines to foreign countries. The optimism about India overcoming the deadly virus began to surface in early January among experts and policymakers. They were quite confident about bending the curve on the Covid infection rate. The country had already suffered enough, and the people were just eager to bring some normalcy to their lives.

The election Commission of India soon announced key elections in five states where 186 million people were eligible to vote. Kerala was one of those states where election rallies were held without safety protocols or social distancing. Although on television, national leaders would occasionally appear to exhort the citizens of their solemn duty to cover their faces with masks, keep social distancing and maintain hygiene. However, in a campaign rally held by Modi in the constituency of Konni, Kerala, thousands of people were bused in from all over the neighboring districts into a crowded stadium where it was almost next to impossible to keep up with their own guidelines. It has happened with BJP rallies and every other political party in contravention to the Government’s stated advisories. Then there were cricket matches, religious festivals, and other crowded events that went on with the knowledge and consent of the authorities who miserably failed in their mission.

Soon, it all began to unravel as India started breaking records averaging more than 100000 cases a day. Today, the social media is full of information and pictures on Covid funerals in crowded cemeteries, weeping relatives, long queues of ambulances carrying gasping patients, mortuaries overflowing with the dead, and two or more patients to a bed, and in corridors and lobbies fighting for services, tests, medicines, and even oxygen.  It has become a sad spectacle where the ordinary citizen once again has become the hapless victim of this continuing tragedy. Underlining Government’s responsibility to provide oxygen to medical facilities, the Delhi court, in a recent ruling, admonished the Administration by saying that “human lives are not important to… the State. We are shocked and dismayed that the Government is not seeing that reality… what is happening? Why is the Government not waking up to the reality?”

What has gone wrong? We were supposed to vaccinate as many as possible to arrest this Pandemic. A country like Israel has shown the world that an effective way of prevention is a vaccination that would protect all, especially the vulnerable population. However, up until now, only less than 2% of India’s population have been fully vaccinated. In many cases, people are still waiting for their second shot. There have been vaccine shortages everywhere. While there was no countrywide vaccine strategy in place, the Modi government declared victory over Covid and started exporting them to the International market. Notwithstanding India’s obligation to the rest of humanity, Charity must begin at home. Modi administration’s callous behavior in this regard has undoubtedly contributed to the ongoing crisis. Moreover, official arrogance, hyper-nationalism, and bureaucratic bungling all might have played a part in the current fiasco.

Addressing the nation on the latest crisis, Prime Minister Modi appears to have no answers. In the last month, the whole focus of the leadership has been on how to take Mamata Banerjee out in Bengal and take over that State for the saffron brigade. What a clever way it was to stagger the elections in Bengal in eight phases? Does one wonder what an insane idea it was to drag the polls for a month with huge rallies and other campaign-related activities in this Covid era? To the current leadership, the focus is not the governance but the power grab, whether it is overthrowing a duly elected government or buying of legislators. No wonder then, other than offering platitudes, Government appears to have no plans for aiding the poor or providing an immediate supply of oxygen or vaccines to the people of India. The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, and China are among countries that give free vaccines to their citizens.  However, States in India are told to leave it to their own devices! Total vaccination is the only way the world is going to eradicate this Pandemic. Undoubtedly, if money becomes the criteria, the well-to-do will get all the shots! Commenting on Modi’s speech on the second wave of Covid, noted journalist and social activist Yogendra Yadav wrote the following: ‘It was woefully short on everything people needed. People demanded answers; he offered none. People needed credible assurances; he offered empty words. People were angry at the criminal negligence of their elected Government; he trivialized their suffering by treating it as personal misfortune. It was not the speech of a democratically elected leader; it was an imperious ruler telling his subjects that all is well, they must trust him and his government”.

There is no doubt that India would have managed the Covid crisis better if the Government based its policies on the advice of health experts rather than relying on ancient traditions and beliefs. Banging of the thalis, lighting candles, and switching off lights at a certain time in the evening will not end this epidemic. It takes dedicated leadership that relies on science and depends on valuable advice from the country’s renowned epidemiologists. This is just another reminder to build more hospital facilities especially in rural areas to combat a sudden increase in demand in any future crisis. Building statues and other monuments may make us proud but will not substitute institutions that would serve people’s daily needs and their career aspirations.

Although the States were raising the alarm on the Pandemic, the central health ministry had it on record that Covid is not a concern for India. On the other hand, states like Gujarat have been vaccinating people above 18 years of age. Karnataka and Haryana started door-to-door campaigns and vaccination camps in Malls. However, when the Non-BJP States asked for the same, the requests were said to be denied. It is time to examine whether this Government treats all its citizens equally. There appears to be a communal or regional angle to everything they do. Addressing this disparity, Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, asked the Government to be transparent about the supply of vaccines expected in the coming next six months and how they will be distributed to states. He further advised that “there are many things we must do to fight this epidemic, but a big part of this effort must be ramping up the vaccination program”. He also appealed to Modi to assist vaccine producers “with funds and other concessions” so that they expand their manufacturing facilities quickly.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress General Secretary, said constructive suggestions from opposition parties are dismissed as politicization rather than being accepted in the spirit that the nation is in crisis, every single life matters, and therefore, “all of us must stand together and do whatever we can to save lives regardless of our politics.” We have yet to see whether the Government would take heed or continue with championing of its electoral politics at the expense of India’s welfare!

(The author is a former Chief Technology Officer, the United Nations, and Vice Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress. He can be reached at gta777@gmail.com)