The following article was written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference:
The remarkable capacity of the Indian citizenry to rise up to a humanitarian crisis is unparalleled. While the usual suspects were busy propagating their agenda in times of such distress, what we witnessed across the country over the past 15 days is humanity and disaster managements at its finest.
To start with – the exemplary cooperation between the central and state governments. Over the past many years, one of the standard complaints by many folks was on how politicians often bring in partisan politics over state/national interest. Today we have all the Chief Ministers speaking in one voice, irrespective of the party they come from; and all of them working in tandem with the central government without airing any public disagreements. We see exemplary coordination between the CMs and the Prime Minister of India. This speaks volumes about the maturity and sagacity of our political leadership when it matters. This pleasant surprise of close coordination over silly bickering will be remembered for a long time to come.
We have government employees going door to door survey even in big cities (this observation is not just based on media reports, they came door to door in our apartment complex too!) seeking information on the health of people in the house and travel histories if any. We have police remarkably visiting the houses of all those who were under home quarantine after their foreign visit. We have agricultural department making humungous efforts to ensure vegetables ae available in abundance within walking distance from people’s homes.
We have also found that the police department has many creative people too! Many videos of police singing to convey the message are such a treat to watch! It underscores the importance how well the message is being drilled into the minds of the people. We have of course seen the remarkable efforts of health department officials in tracing back thousands of contacts of any potential infection, and putting them in quarantine.
However, what needs a special mention is how the citizenry rose up to this occasion. We could all have continued to crib about the government or make jokes on the leadership, but we didn’t. A 60-year-old donated all her savings to fight the war against COVID-19. Residents of apartment complexes have come together to pool in money and help out all the construction workers, daily wage earners and maids – without seeking any benefit in return. Social media volunteers are rushing to help people (in the words of Tajinder Bagga – faster than pizza delivery). Many NGOs, small and big, are arranging for dry ration items and cooked food for poor people, residents of old age homes; daily wage earners etc. Listening to how they are coordinating with the local authorities to get the food to the right people is simply exhilarating. Hearing stories, online and offline, of how communities are coming together to help pregnant women feel comfortable is so heart-warming. The youth in many villages are gathering funds to help distribute vegetables and ration to poor people on a regular basis. Community volunteers in villages and towns are visiting houses regularly to seek feedback on what can be done better to ease lives of people in this lockdown.
At the Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad, every single day vegetables are packed and delivered to the needy. And we have the remarkable story of the Mannargudi Jeeyar swami who gets food cooked for 200 people with just 2 staff. The Langar seva by the Sikhs across the country and other remarkable services by different communities is simply unprecedented.
We can go on and on about more such stories. The Prime Minister himself is acknowledging the widespread efforts of the citizenry in helping the needy and also more importantly helping the country combat this deadly virus. Well meaning people have also come forward to point out on areas of improvement. We have seen that our governments have their eyes and ears wide open to this kind of feedback. Getting agriculture labour to pluck fruits and vegetables is apparently a big problem. We then have the over-crowding at vegetable and meat markets despite stringent instructions to follow social distancing. Hopefully some teething problems like these are overcome soon too – because over-crowding and not following social distancing is a disaster waiting to happen. And the biggest problem of all – spreading fake news on WhatsApp – has no solutions yet. Even the horribly managed migrant situation has been later tackled with remarkable maturity.
So while the English media is obsessed with “more testing” and “communal strife” and “Udhav Thackrey is the bestest” and “What good would clapping do?” – the citizens of this country have been obsessed with thanking and encouraging those who are helping in this fight; and obsessed with helping out those in need. Every single organization and institution that this batch has derided over the years has risen upto the occasion like no one else has. Humanity and Disaster Management at its finest, indeed!
0 comments:
Post a Comment