A saga of failures- The New Indian Express

This government has been both clueless and careless in handling the Covid crisis. Its careless ways border on criminal negligence. Its unpreparedness in dealing with the second wave of Covid-19 has exposed its utter disdain for the concerns of those afflicted and those likely to be affected in days to come. Yet, I must admire the energy our prime minister has showcased in the electoral battle for West Bengal and Assam. However, that energy is woefully missing in the nation’s battle to deal with a pandemic that has thus far cost almost two lakh lives.

Healthcare and education are the foundation of human empowerment. Both have been neglected by this government since 2014. India’s gross national expenditure on research and development has been stagnant at 0.7% of GDP in comparison to Israel (4.6%) South Korea (4.5%), Japan (3.2%), Germany (3%), the US (2.8%), France (2.2%), China (2.1%) and Brazil (1.3%). This is so when India’s per capita GDP is far lower when compared to developed economies. In healthcare, we should be discovering molecules through R&D rather than becoming the factory of the world for drugs discovered by others. Our global ranking in the 2019 EU Industrial R&D scorecard is abysmal. Only 13 Indian entities figure in the list of 2,500 entities included in the scorecard. Absent massive public support for R&D to both public and private enterprises in healthcare, we will find ourselves dependent on others for both vaccines and drugs. We will be clueless when confronted with a health emergency like the present.

How can we ever be proud of a nation that cannot even provide oxygen to save lives? It is the most fundamental of all human needs. A state that cannot provide for its supply in emergencies is akin to a failed state. The fact that supply of oxygen has become a subject matter of quotas shows the utter insensitivity of an establishment that never thought of tomorrow in pandemic times. Today, the BJP and the government are obsessed only with the task of decimating the opposition. The carelessness with which this government has approached the Covid crisis is a saga of failures. 

It all started with the sudden belated ill-conceived lockdown the prime minister announced on 24 March 2020. Lakhs of migrants desperate to reach home were stranded without hope. An uncaring government failed to provide them adequate facilities, both in terms of food, shelter and transportation to help them reach home. The tragic stories of their ‘journey home’ are yet to be told. Yet our government failed to prepare for the next wave of the pandemic. When it came, it was caught napping.

Any enlightened and alert administration should have done the following. One, test all its people. Two, ensure adequate stocks of vaccines for all (the UK, US and Israel had already planned for stockpiles to be used when needed. Vaccine manufacturers were already locked into contracts with countries for sufficient stockpiles). Three, increase capacities for production of vaccines within the country. We relied on SII’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to meet our needs. They too were not funded to ramp up capacity. Four, procure or provide for a mechanism that allows our citizens access to vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik and Johnson & Johnson. Five, allow all to be vaccinated by WHO-cleared vaccines under emergency conditions. None of this was planned.

Though the government was ill-prepared for adequate supply of vaccines, emergency measures should have been put in place in advance for creating facilities for the next wave of the pandemic given the evidence of it in other countries. For that, the state should have provided for testing facilities as and when needed. Next, there should have been provision of enough ICU and CCU beds in hospitals. Supply of oxygen wherever and whenever needed should also have been geared up. Yet none of this was planned for the current eventuality. The second…