COVID-19 calls for a largeness of political vision that will bring all of India together to get the better of the virus

Wanted, a collective national endeavour

We must open our doors as wide as possible to advice from the best minds and most skilled persons, whoever they may be and wherever they might be, in the government and outside, political friends and enemies. But it is unbelievable that even today the Centre is refusing to release the States’ share in Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues. Detailed daily press briefings have built confidence in the State Government’s efforts, so much so that the residents of Kerala have now shed their fear. In the process, a Chief Minister who was earlier seen as a polarising figure has united the State in this crisis, and he has come to be universally admired. After many members of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi were found infected, an intense wave of Islamophobia has swept the TV channels and social media. An extended lockdown may make sense in an advanced economy where organised activity is the norm, but in India where there is so much of day-to-day survival and so little social security? It is going to be a long and hard process to rebuild the economy and rescue the livelihoods of millions of people in rural and urban India that have been weakened, if not destroyed altogether. Or were millions deprived of their daily earnings only so that COVID-19 would not spread to the clangers of pots and pans and lighters of candles, the more privileged among us? We already have heroines like the nurse in Kerala who cared for an elderly COVID-19 couple, fell ill herself, recovered and now wants to rejoin duty. For that, we need a largeness of political vision that would enable a true collective effort at all levels of government and by all sections of society.

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