DIMAPUR, JUNE 8 (MExN): The Naga Scholars Association (NSA) held a webinar panel discussion on ‘Covid-19 in Nagaland’ on June 6.
The panellists included Mhonlumo Kikon, Advisor, IT&C, Science & Technology); Abhishek Singh, IAS, CEO, MyGov.in; Monalisa Changkija, Proprietor, Publisher & Editor, Nagaland Page; Dr. Sedevi Angami, Director, CIHSR, Referral Hospital; and Dr. Abraham Lotha, Parish Priest & Anthropologist.
Dr. Zuchamo Yanthan, President of NSA was the Chair-Moderator of the talk. Dr. Yanthan, in his introductory address, laid the two key objectives of the webinar - to engage with the challenges caused by Covid-19 upon humanity in general and Nagaland in particular and secondly, to explore ways and means to cope with the challenges and issues posed by Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr. Sedevi, the first panelist, presented broad statistics of Covid-19 cases across the world and in Nagaland. He said that as far as Nagaland is concerned, of the Covid-19 cases so far, almost all of them are asymptotic or mildly symptomatic and they are in the age range of 18 to 44 years.
He gave an assessment of Covid -19 related health facilities in Nagaland – Covid-19 Testing Facilities, Covid-19 Hospitals and Quarantine Centres. He stressed on the need to identify strengths, weaknesses and map the existing resources and capitalize on the strengths for long-term benefits of the people. He said that a bad question at such times is – ‘are we really prepared?’; the appropriate question is, ‘are we improving our preparations?’ and he said that the answer is ‘yes’.
Abhishek Singh, IAS, opined that in the beginning of Covid-19 outbreak, the biggest challenge was the inadequate knowledge about the virus.
Test, Track and Treat in order to break the chain of infections, he said while stressing on the need to strictly adhere to the standard measures like hygiene, social distancing, quarantine and adopt certain behavioural changes.
As the returnees come back, Singh said it is an opportunity for the government to do skill mapping in order to ensure job security for them and also to boost the economy of the state. Given the limited resources in the state, innovative ways are required to levy taxes to boost the revenue of the state and reclaim the economy, he encouraged while calling for new measures to attract investors from outside the state to set up food processing units, factories and plants, harness tourism, capitalise web technology and thereby employ the youth in all these sectors of the state.
He added that there is a great response of the community and churches in Nagaland in coming forward in this pandemic. The coming together of community and government is the strength and resilience as a society, he added.
Monalisa Changkija meanwhile pointed out the unpreparedness of Nagaland Government for over two months of lockdown to deal with the multi-dimensional issues of COVID-19.
Acknowledging the contribution of civil society in the current Covid-19 pandemic in Nagaland, she said, “community participation and contribution is laudable and is a strong point of our society. Strong community bonds, our main social capital, are in our DNA. They also provide the social safety net”.
When other states have started rebuilding their economy, its time our state start building not only health infrastructure but all sectors, including education and economy which merits in-depth studies through specialised think-tanks, Changkija stated. She also pointed that there is “absence of a decisive, informed, effective and efficient political leadership” in the state “which connotes the absence of ideas and ideating within that leadership”. She added that times as this also present an opportunity to strengthen social and civil rights and liberties.
Mhonlumo Kikon spoke how the Government of Nagaland took stock of Covid-19 problems with three key priorities when the Lockdown started – ramp up health care system, establish quarantine centres and financially help Nagaland students, working people and patients stranded outside of Nagaland.
He meanwhile opined that “certain isolated issues have been generalized” in the media to malign the government. He said that the government encourages democratic processes and does not stop anyone from filing RTI or filing cases whereby the citizens in their individual capacity can challenge and criticise the government that they have elected.
He concluded that with the mentioned readiness, the Government is now engaged with the main challenge, i.e. to prevent community spread through contact tracing and testing.
Dr. Abraham Lotha while stating that governments across the world have struggled to deal with the pandemic, however added that it is important for government to gain trust of the people by transparently communicating frequently with the people.
“Even the government is learning to deal with this everyday but trustworthy information is very essential,” he said.
He talked about serious social problems that exist alongside the Corona virus and the misinformation which triggers panic, anxiety and depression among people. He further urged Naga intellectuals to engage in research to help in building the economy and education sector of the state.
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