MD Tabrej
Asst. Prof., Dept. of Business Administration
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous) Jakhama
First of all, let us try to understand the terms Epidemic and Pandemic. An epidemic is defined as “an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time.” A pandemic is a type of Epidemic (one with greater range and coverage) an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographical area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
On March 11th 2020, the World Health Organisation officially changed its designation of COVID-19, the illness caused by Coronavirus, from an Epidemic to Pandemic. Officially the name for Novel Coronavirus-19 is declared by the Scientists of International Committee on Taxonomy of Virus (ICTV) as SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) and the diseases as Coronavirus Diseases-19 (COVID - 19) by W.H.O under International Classification of Diseases.
By now, the global timeline of the Coronavirus’s development has been well established. The first case reportedly appeared in mid-November. In December, the Chinese government was still attributing hospitalizations to a peculiar form of pneumonia; through January and February, the outbreak began spreading around the world and by the end of March its epicentre is today firmly in Europe and the United States.
Our country reported its’first case on January 30. In recent weeks India has seen exponential growth in the number of cases. At present, we are into a three-week nationwide lockdown; a heavy restriction on a nation of 1.37 billion people that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have insisted will help defeat the virus, which is a very welcoming step and we all need to follow it to overcome this Pandemic but this step need to be executed with proper planning and coordination, considering all the integrated factors.
This lockdown is, in keeping with many of our government’s previous policies, a headline-grabbing initiative announced with little warning, but one that will do little to address the myriad problems India is going to face in dealing with the Coronavirus. I hope and sincerely pray that this lockdown does not look or become like Demonetisation. At present, it is putting responsibility for containing the outbreak on citizens, instead of instituting a robust official support system. It came as a nightmare for the most vulnerable in society. Yet the announcement of the lockdown was remarkable not just for its scope, but for its timing. Our PM made his speech at 8:00 p.m. on March 24, saying the restrictions would come into force just after midnight and be in place for three weeks. By the time he addressed, most of the shops had closed for the day, catching people off guard who had been repeatedly told not to panic-buy.
The poor sections of our country aresurprised because for JANTA CURFEW four days prior information was passed but for LOCKDOWN only four hours were given. While most wealthy and middle-class Indians will make it through these three weeks unscathed, able to hunker down, work from home, and access some modicum of entertainment, the country’s poor and its huge number of transient migrant workers will struggle to survive.So it’s humble and kind request to our Central and Sate Govts. and able citizens to kindly look after the genuine needs of those peoples as well or else it will be very disheartening to see people dying out of Hunger.
It’s really true that “HEALTH IS WEALTH”.All of us want to be in Healthy India and without looking and supporting the vulnerable ones; none of us can guarantee that this Pandemic will be over in our country. We are social beings by nature, sooner or later (After Lockdown) will start socialising and we will not be safe until and unless the environment is safe, asevery one of us are the part of this environment. So our Govt. kindly need to look into this matter so that they (those who are not able to manage their needs during this time) receives the basic necessities at their doorsteps and our able citizens those who can support in whatever ways need to forward their kind supports.
The government is offering little in the way of a safety net. Only after the lockdown came into force and amid growing outrage, did the Honourable Finance Minister Shmt. Nirmala Sitharamanfinally announce an aid package. Yet its Rs. 1.7 Lakh Crore value is a pitiful amount compared with what governments elsewhere have provided. Whereas governments in Britain, Spain, and Germany have offered stimulus plans of up to 15 - 20 percent of GDP, India’s amounts to less than 1 percent of its GDP.
Points included in this relief package of Rs. 1.7 Lakh Crore are:
- Rs. 50 Lakh medical cover for healthcare workers.
- Free additional 5 kg rice or wheat for 3 months for BPL families.
- Free 1 kg of preferred pulse for three months for BPL families.
- Rs. 8.69 crore, farmers to get Rs. 2,000 immediately.
- MNREGA wages hiked from Rs. 182 to Rs. 202 per day.
- Poor senior citizens, widows, differently abled to get Rs. 1,000 over 3 months.
- Women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs. 500 for three months.
- Free gas cylinder for three months for Ujjawala beneficiaries.
- Collateral free loan doubled to up to Rs. 20 lakh for women Self Help Groups.
- Govt. to foot EPF contribution of employer and employee in establishment with up to 100 employees where 90% are earning less than Rs. 15,000 per month.
- EPFO can provide non-refundable advance of up to 75% of credit or 3 months of wages whichever lower.
- Rs. 31,000 crore welfare fund for construction workers. States asked to utilise this fund.
It provides no help for day laborers or other workers in unorganized sectors. It contains no measures for migrant workers. The actual amounts of support: five kilograms of rice or wheat, and one kilogram of pulses, for the next three months, coupled with little cash transfers, have infuriated the poor sections as for them the source of income has dried up entirely.
At present, India is still not testing enough people, having conducted the fewest number of tests of any country with confirmed cases of the Coronavirus, at just 10.5 per million residents (South Korea, by contrast, has conducted more than 6,000 tests per million residents). Private laboratories are allowed to charge Rs. 4,500 per test; remember just Rs. 5,00 – Rs. 2,000 a month has been offered as income support for some residents, means significant barriers to confirmation and treatment remains in place. (The government argues that because of the size of the population, widespread testing is not feasible.) Whereas the WHO recommends a ratio of one doctor for every 1,000 patients, India has one government doctor for every 10,000, according to the 2019 National Health Profile.
According to the report ofNational Health Profile 2019, India had roughly 26,000 government hospitals, which included those run by central, state and local governments.If we divide this number with the 1.25 billion populations (in 2019) then for every one lakh people, there are two hospitals (one hospital per 47,000 people). A state wise analysis showed that in terms of the number of govt. hospitals, smaller states with lesser population were better performers. Apart from hospitals and doctors, the per capita availability of basic hospital infrastructure such as nurses and hospital beds were also low. The total number of registered nurses in government hospitals was around 20.5 lakh, which means one nurse for every 610 people (approx). The number of beds was also acute in comparison to India’s population. There are hardly 6-9 beds for every 10,000 people. In short, the country’s health-care system is in no position to cope with an avalanche of patients with a contagious respiratory infection in the manner that China and Italy have been doing.
(KINDLY MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAY AT HOME)
MAY THE ALMIGHTY GOD BLESS US ALL TO OVERCOME THIS COVID-19.
