NEARLY 50 DAYS INTO THE INDIAN lockdown, the most severe in the world according to widespread consensus, as the COVID-19 count climbs steeply, the economy continues to nosedive. The Narendra Modi regime’s unwillingness to countenance a relief and support package to sustain those who have lost their livelihoods and to prevent erosion of productive capacity has been true to type. What explains the stubborn resolve to go against the global current in which governments across the world, with widely varying ideological predilections, have thrown the kitchen sink at the pandemic while saving their economies?
There is little doubt that India’s response to COVID-19 was lethargic and muddled, especially because the lockdown was not used to bring either the disease under control or evolve a coordinated strategy to manage the economic crisis. The experience with the lockdown indicates that the government simply hoped to ride out of the crisis after the lockdown. Effectively, hope remained the only strategy for a do-nothing government that has punctiliously avoided any kind of intervention to stop the spread of the disease, stabilise the economy or provide relief to millions of Indians on the brink of starvation.
What appeared to be puzzling is slowly falling into place. And what initially appeared to be large-scale bungling, ineptitude and incompetence now seems to have been a rather charitable explanation. Instead, it is now clear that the do-nothing course is a deliberate one, in tune with the Modi government’s right-wing ideological underpinnings. This can be demonstrated by recalling a series of steps taken or not taken since the lockdown commenced on March 25, or, more pertinently, since late January, when the first case was detected, in Kerala. But first the context.
This story is from the May 22, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the May 22, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
