We cannot have it both ways. There were liberals who wrote opinion pieces about how the pandemic is being used as an erosion of democracy. Would you have supported the centre confiscating health as a subject when India had low Covid cases ? That was when we could have acted.
https://twitter.com/somnath1978/status/1384876328357441548
The fact is this: federalism is bad in pandemics. This had been proved in every place. USA could have avoided so many deaths if it had centralized directives. Europe is still reeling from Covid due to lack of EU level policies for stopping Covid. India’s suffering now is similar.
Even right now, when the situation had become too large to control, the *correct* procedure is to have the centre confiscate the power of the states and enact national level policy on Covid. This will be more effective in fighting the disease. But will we support it?
The situation has become so bad that we have idiotic elements of chaos, like the farmer protesters, who want to march onto Delhi amidst a raging pandemic! We have a highly irresponsible media spreading panic and fake news. Does this call for emergency powers? No.
We are a democracy. A fundamental rule of democracy is that everyone has a share in the responsibility. It cannot all be passed to the centre. If you are willing to pass the responsibility to the centre, be prepared to also accept a centralization of powers.
If we are not capable of being a democracy, and hundreds of thousands of people die needlessly because of it, what is the better alternative:
Centralize the powers and deal with this in a war footing?
Or hold the states accountable?
Or both?
We need a policy, not a blame game.
Centralize the powers and deal with this in a war footing?
Or hold the states accountable?
Or both?
We need a policy, not a blame game.
I will argue that the answer is “both”. Blaming the states is necessary. A detailed investigation must be performed on the lapses last year. The centre must take over the powers temporarily and enact national policy.
But health must be returned to the responsibility of states.
But health must be returned to the responsibility of states.
This is me arguing against @Ram_Guha in April last year, that we should have a centralized national level policy for fighting Covid. I wish the powers remained with the Centre the whole of last year. We wouldn’t have seen this disaster now.
https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1248112245902577670
Are we willing to hold Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Kerala responsible for the explosion of Covid cases in the second wave?
If not, then this is intellectual dishonesty at the upmost bullshit level.
If not, then this is intellectual dishonesty at the upmost bullshit level.
https://twitter.com/Ram_Guha/status/1248106969778413568
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