Strengthen the Battle against Covid-19, Ensure Immediate Relief for the People

WE are now entering the third week of the three-week-long countrywide lockdown. The lockdown has been the only decisive and concrete response of the Modi government to the Covid-19 pandemic and the government has gone all out to enforce it with all its might. Looking at the rate of growth and spread of the pandemic in India we do not really know how far the lockdown has so far been successful. During these two weeks of lockdown the total number of confirmed cases has jumped from 606 to 4,421, with the death toll rising from 10 to 114 (figures according to the Covid-19 tracker on bing.com, as noted on 7 April morning). The numbers are rising increasingly faster, doubling over every three days or so, and almost forty per cent of India’s districts are now affected.

While the figures are likely to have been much worse in the absence of this countrywide lockdown, the fact is that the reported figures are still quite low mainly because India is still testing only about 50 persons per million, which is very low compared to most of the countries in the world. Extensive testing has been a key strategy that has proved highly effective in countries like South Korea and Germany, just to mention two countries with a significant number of Corona positive cases where the death toll remains comparatively much lower. Lockdown can work only in combination with an effective medical strategy. But by not testing enough and by leaving even our frontline health workers unprotected while dealing with this lethal virus, the Indian state has been criminally negligent even in terms of the immediate medical response.

The lockdown itself has been further weakened by utter lack of planning and faulty implementation. Surely the government could have anticipated the whole issue of survival of migrant workers and rural and urban poor depending on daily earnings. If only the government got its basics right and began by establishing and communicating a strategy to mitigate the sufferings of the most vulnerable and biggest victims of the lockdown and ensure uninterrupted supply of food and other basic daily necessities, we would not have seen this massive exodus of working people and the acute hunger that is now stalking India much faster than the deadly Coronavirus. If only the people had some time to prepare for the lockdown, we would not have seen the kind of panic buying and hoarding we witnessed that not only inconvenienced people but also made a mockery of all the ‘social distancing’ norms.

While the government has not bothered to consult state governments, political parties, independent experts and civil society organisations on any of its decisions, Narendra Modi and the Sangh-BJP brigade have made every effort to use the Covid-19 crisis to promote the Modi cult and the BJP. A vicious campaign is underway against China and Muslims by branding them as the ‘producer’ and ‘distributor’ of the disease respectively. The Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin in particular is being used to spread a vicious hate campaign against Muslims, which has already resulted in atrocities like a Muslim woman being denied medical care in childbirth leading to her baby’s death, and Muslims being socially boycotted and chased from their homes. Meanwhile, in the name of expressing solidarity with doctors and essential service workers people have been asked to clap and bang plates and pots and pans and light lamps and candles. On both occasions this has resulted in massive violation of ‘social distancing’ norms as well as a dangerous spread of superstitious rumours about how the disease can be combatted.

The government’s orders and appeals to employers against retrenching workers or inflicting wage cuts are having very little impact and the state is making no serious effort to enforce this directive. Now in the name of raising funds to fight the Covid-19 crisis, the government has suspended the Local Area Development funds disbursed through MPs for the next two years. While this embargo on local area development will fetch Rs 7,900 crore, the government is all set to spend Rs 20,000 crore for beautification of the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi covering the area from Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate under the Central Vista project. Meanwhile, riding on the relentless propaganda of hatred and superstition, the BJP is trying to take advantage of the hunger of the people by distributing ‘Modi meals’ among the people.

The twin blows of the Covid-19 crisis and the lockdown mark an unprecedented jolt to our everyday existence. Everything has been thrown out of gear. But to be sure the suffering people are also finding ways to withstand the crisis by helping each other. This fighting resolve and resilience of the people is the key to facing this extraordinary situation. While the BJP appeals to the most backward and regressive ideas and seeks to deepen the wells of distrust and hatred which exist in our society, we always rely on the finest traditions and strongest points of the people’s own experience, harnessing their energy and unleashing their initiative. While keeping up our vigil and fight against the Covid-19 epidemic, we must do all we can to secure immediate relief for the people and strengthen the collective spirit and initiative of all our comrades. It is at junctures like this that we must live up to the principle: “The people’s interests are the Party’s interests”, and assert ourselves as communists through all our ideas, attitude and action.