India's Response to COVID-19 Is a Humanitarian Disaster
The government enforced a strict lockdown for weeks, giving the illusion of responsible policy.
But all the while it has failed to provide adequate medical and economic support!
bostonreview.net/global-justice…
The government enforced a strict lockdown for weeks, giving the illusion of responsible policy.
But all the while it has failed to provide adequate medical and economic support!
bostonreview.net/global-justice…
But in the Modi government’s scheme of priorities, COVID-19 was initially swamped by other preoccupations:
Assembly elections in Delhi, murderous communal atrocities in the aftermath of a profoundly provocative Citizenship Amendment Act passed last year,
Assembly elections in Delhi, murderous communal atrocities in the aftermath of a profoundly provocative Citizenship Amendment Act passed last year,
Donald Trump’s visit to India in late February, and
the politics of regime change in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
the politics of regime change in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
As a convulsive response, and with just four hours of notice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on March 24 a full nationwide lockdown for a period of three weeks.
This was extended on four occasions, to the accompaniment of some phased relaxations, until June 30.
This was extended on four occasions, to the accompaniment of some phased relaxations, until June 30.
Indeed, the police have enforced the shutdown with a frightening excess of zeal.
On March 26 in Kolkata, for instance, a thirty-two-year-old man stepped out to buy milk, was beaten up by the police, and died.
On March 26 in Kolkata, for instance, a thirty-two-year-old man stepped out to buy milk, was beaten up by the police, and died.
On March 31 migrant workers trekking back home were apprehended by the police in Gujarat, squeezed into a container truck, and sent back to Maharashtra.
And on June 18, in Toothukudi District of Tamil Nadu, a father and son allegedly died from police violence in custody after they were arrested for keeping their shop open after hours.
But lockdowns are not supposed to be punitive.
They are meant to provide time, among other things, to create, deploy, and allocate medical resources; to prepare and train a vast support network of health care and contact-tracing personnel;
They are meant to provide time, among other things, to create, deploy, and allocate medical resources; to prepare and train a vast support network of health care and contact-tracing personnel;
to rearrange commercial, infrastructural, and educational resources to meet a new era; and to psychologically prepare society for the long haul.
to rearrange commercial & infrastructural resources to meet a new era; and to psychologically prepare society for the long haul.
to rearrange commercial & infrastructural resources to meet a new era; and to psychologically prepare society for the long haul.
But for India, a developing country with great sectoral and occupational vulnerabilities, this dramatic reduction is more than economics: it is also the specter of lives lost—not from COVID-19, but from the severe economic and social dislocations.
Especially in a poor country, a lockdown must be accompanied by an extensive and careful system of compensatory transfers to provide sustained and effective protection against this danger.
