It is heartening to note that despite various hardships faced by a large section of our vulnerable population, people have overwhelmingly cooperated with the lockdown, and by and large, adhered to the governmental guidelines.
Our medical professionals, governmental machinery, policing system have shown exemplary professionalism in enforcing the rules set out by the government to contain the spread of this deadly virus. They deserve the nation’s gratitude, applause and fullest support. Certainly, the battle has just begun and we have a long way to go before we declare victory over it.
Undoubtedly, we had never faced this kind of situation ever in the past so it is a big challenge for the administrative machinery. Though our system has shown its remarkable capacity to handle various kinds of emergencies such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and other such major upheavals, this situation is totally unprecedented and requires long-term sustained efforts on the part of our bureaucratic system to turn the tide.
This, in turn, requires quick, decisive and reasoned decision making at all levels of the government. Fortunately, the political leadership of our country is ready and willing to take tough decisions as is clear from the decision taken to declare a countrywide lockdown for 21 days.
My personal experience of working under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that if you are taking decisions with honest motives and in the interest of the people at large, there is no need to fear anything. I enjoyed full freedom as per law to decide issues and act as per my best judgement. So it is now for the bureaucracy to take this situation as a challenge and steer the country out of the woods with their dedication and commitment to the onerous task at hand.
Unlike other countries such as in Europe, our system is burdened with manifold responsibilities. On the one hand, it has to contain the spread of the virus by enforcing the guidelines regarding social distancing and lockdown, on the other it has to ensure that critically-ill patients are given all the necessary medical treatment and support. In addition, large quarantine facilities are to be created and run properly to ensure containment of the virus. Along with this, maintaining the uninterrupted and regular supply of essential goods is a huge responsibility that requires skilled coordination and administrative effort. Then there is the problem of the migrant labourers, daily wage workers and such others whose livelihood has been severely affected by the lockdown.
The system has to ensure that these vulnerable sections of the population are taken care of by ensuring that money is transferred to their accounts without any delay. It is the job of the bureaucracy at the higher levels to not only ensure the transfer of money sanctioned to the needy but to also regularly assess the actual requirement based on concrete data depending on how long the lockdown continues. The system has to act in such a coordinated and thoughtful manner that the common people of our country should have the satisfaction that the government is standing with them in their hour of need to look after them.
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I am sure that those at the helm of affairs must have taken all the available facts and data into consideration to suggest to the decision makers the future course of action to combat the coronavirus. This strategy has to look holistically into the experience of the past month, the spread of the virus, preparedness of our health system, supply of masks and other personal protection equipment, ventilators, economic condition of the most vulnerable section of the population, the essential item supply chain situation, rabi crop harvesting and grain market operations to name a few. Let us remember that this coronavirus will be controlled, sooner than later, but our country’s economy has to be brought back on rails at the earliest. For this to happen, our bureaucracy has to put their best foot forward and show to the country why they are called the steel frame. Time has come for that.
(VS Pandey is a former IAS officer. He retired as secretary, department of fertilisers in the Government of India)
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