The Mess In The Second Wave: The Centre And The States Must Share The Blame Equally
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-04-27 02:44:05
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Can the NDA government deny that one of the main reasons that we were caught unprepared by the ferocity of the second wave was the laxity induced by the self-congratulatory mode the government went into after the first wave receded? As cases dipped, all of India was pushed into a false sense of security and Covid protocols went for a toss even as everything, except schools and colleges, were opened up. There was not even a semblance of formality in enforcing the rules (with even state governments becoming equally lax). Infrastructure like isolation centres were dismantled and special Covid wards and hospital beds were done away with. There was no effort to keep preparations updated for the second wave though experience worldwide had shown that it would hit hard and it was just a matter of time before it hit. Although the first lockdown was ostensibly to ramp up health infrastructure, when the second wave hit, there were shortages all around. Obviously, the lessons were not learnt.
Yet when it became clear, as early as mid-February that the second wave was hitting and it was confirmed by early March, there was no effort to cancel super spreader events like the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar or the election rallies in the states. The EC did not even listen to appeals to club the last four phases of the elections in West Bengal in a single phase. In short, nothing was done to cancel or shorten events that could have added to the exponential spread of the virus. The Centre, unlike the first wave, left everything, including procuring the vaccines, to the states (although it will continue giving them supplies from the Central pool).While it is universally known that rules in India can only be enforced by the use of the stick, there was no attempt by administrations across the country to enforce Covid protocols. Citizens crowded roads and malls, many of them without masks. All this further contributed to the rapid spread of the virus, with positivity rate as high as 25-30 percent in some regions. The Centre has now advised the states to enforce containment zone rules with an iron hand to control the spread, with focus on testing, tracing, isolating and treating. Although the national positivity rate has become stable in the last 5 days (cases were jumping at 11.5% per day but have now shown a decline), we are still adding more than 3 lakh fresh cases every day. Death toll continues to be above 2000. The Centre needs to become proactive instead of leaving everything to the states.
