#LETSFIGHTCOVID- Understanding India

“This is a time for domestic solidarity and unity. I encourage the Government to draw on India’s vibrant civil society to reach out to the most vulnerable sectors of society, to ensure no one is left behind in this time of crisis”, concluded the High Commissioner.

Amidst the worldwide pandemic that we are fighting today the need to analyze the upcoming and present challenges put forth before India is of vital importance. We all are aware of the severe health sector crisis and resource drain that is happening in the present times. Not to deny the fact that India is taking some bold measures to ensure the virus spread doesn’t happen at a community level. Hence, the World Health Organisation has stated that India’s decision for a nationwide 21-day lockdown is robust and comprehensive.

India is a country which hosts one-sixth of the world’s population hence it goes without saying that fighting a pandemic isn’t a cakewalk therefore we need to discuss as to what are the different possibilities to be identified when fighting an epidemic.

Firstly I would talk about the threats that India is having presently. Scrolling through those horrific crowding images we must have come across a lot of skepticism against India’s planning and execution strategies. However, what needs to be understood is that enormous population of the country is a major issue therefore rapid ground level realization of relief is also becoming a farfetched idea.

Secondly, the lack of resources and moreover the limited access to them at various outlets is a major cause of concern. According to an article of BBC, “Many believe India is also testing below scale because it fears that its under-resourced and uneven public health system could be swamped by patients. India could be buying time to stock up on testing kits and add isolation and hospital beds. "I know mass testing is not a solution, but our testing appears to be too limited. We need to quickly expand to restrict community transmission," said K Sujatha Rao, former federal health secretary and author of But Do We Care: India's Health System.

We haven’t taken two minutes to think before condemning the abrupt crowding at the bus depots by the migrant labourers. Today we need to step into their shoes and analyze their plight during such havoc. Nearly 52% of the migrant workers in our country belong to the unorganized sector hence lack enough legal and financial backing to sustain their lives. Instances of extreme exploitation such as beating and spraying disinfectants on these people lead to further stigmatization leading to heightened atrocities.

In a nutshell, in this aggravating situation the need for better resources and ground level realization in India are important however nothing is impossible with the constant support and cooperation of the civil society. Hence I would quote Swami Vivekananda “In the heart of things there is Unity still.”