The situation in India turned tragic with hospitals staggering under the weight of shortages of oxygen, health workers, vaccines, oxygen, lifesaving drugs, and beds. Mortuaries, cemeteries, and crematoriums are overflowing. There are over 25 million people confirmed positive in India and over 283,000 deaths have so far been reported officially but the figures are predicted to be far higher due to masking COVID-related deaths.
Over 4.2 million Indian Americans anxiously watched social media and WhatsApp, reached out with funds, but the grim reminder haunts all that the COVID-19 pandemic is looming at large and still not over.
A father in Washington D.C. who migrated from Mumbai said, “The entire Indian-American community is living on edge these days with terrifying images of people dying and suffering emerging from back home.”
A heartbroken sociology professor who lost his mother in Mumbai due to the lack of oxygen in the hospital said, “We are wracked by survivors’ guilt — I could not hug my mom one last time,” and to make matters worse, he got a video call in which his inconsolable father collapsed.
While the present government is blaming past governments for the present situation, as it always does, the truth is, the Center totally mishandled the situation.
The government’s mismanagement of COVID of the situation has also left the Indian diaspora especially worried about elderly parents and relatives who depend on part-time carers and other external agencies for their daily well-being and there is no help around for them as all these services have been obstructed by the lockdowns.
How has the Center mishandled COVID?
Did not give freedom to state governments, withheld medical necessities:
State governments have to wait for approval before oxygen, medicines, and other urgent requirements are sanctioned by the Center and this delay has cost lives.
For example, the Central Medical Services Society, a body under the Union ministry of health, was responsible for assessing the bids, checking the qualification of bidders, fixing prices, selecting vendors, and guaranteeing the selected vendors delivered the goods installing oxygen plants in the district hospitals. While state governments were blamed for not doing this, the major part of the delay was caused by the Centre – as it did not start this process until October 2020.
The final contracts were given in December. Four months after the contracts were given, only 33 of the 162 PSA oxygen plants were installed. Another strange event was hospital officials across many states said the companies that had won the agreements were untraceable and unresponsive.
Likewise in many other areas, the decisions of the Center have slowed down processes such as in vaccinations, medicines, PPE kits were not given initially and many healthcare workers were doctors were using raincoats and other such gear while India was exporting PPE kit abroad which really was hypocritical. Indian vaccines were exported abroad while not ensuring that each state had enough vaccines. Presently, all states are vaccine dry.
The Center has not arranged for a “Red Cross” force to work during COVID:
There have been many nations that have organized powerful COVID task forces. While India is being helped by voluntary workers, political parties with great members stepping up as COVID warriors, citizens, doctors, all helping, the government from the Center has little help to offer.
When Srinivas BV reached out, saying “Humanitarian work is primary”, as he and his team in the Indian Youth Congress were hauled for their amazing outreach, supplying oxygen, food, medical supplies, reaching out to the people who live on the streets, the move was criticized by the Center and he was recently pulled up for questioning, just witch-hunting really. The truth is if the Center was providing sufficient help, they would not feel so insecure with helping hands during the pandemic.
The NGOs could have also helped the Center much more during the pandemic, but much earlier, the BJP government had moved on a campaign to de-license 4470 NGOs in India, notably Muslim and Christian NGOs. The Prime Minister introduced the amendment in FCRA rule that would prevent foreign funding to NGOs but allowed foreign funding to RSS-affiliated organizations.
Revoking the licenses had been a disastrous move and the concentrated work of the NGOs over India would empower the nation to rebuild itself from its smoking ruins of the COVID devastation.
Too much red-tapism:
When the world sent oxygen, drugs, and other medical aid to India during the devastating oxygen-related deaths recently. While the USA and other nations sent oxygen, it was lying unattended to with the Center while more people gasping for air died. It turned out that a lot of formalism and paperwork had to be done, transport of the oxygen to the hospitals, while each one saying, including the Center, “It’s not my job.”
The Delhi High Court even warned the Center that it will face contempt charges if Delhi doesn’t get enough oxygen supply.
While the government claims to have rolled back red-tapism, all this was very evident that this is strongly structured in Indian politics and this is why nothing moves in India.
Vaccines ordered late:
There was no order placed for vaccines even after March 2021, despite the Center being warned of the noxious second wave and India’s large population of 1.39 billion, it was very strange.
Today, there are no vaccines and only 2% of Indians have been vaccinated. On the other hand, almost the entire USA is vaccinated and their death rates have gone down dramatically from 4000s and over down to 400s and even less. In the UK, 60% of the population is vaccinated and their death rates have gone down to 1 digit! The UK was initially terribly hit and there was a lack of ventilators and hospital beds too, but with fast care, they got it under control.
While vaccines were transported globally to different countries, there is a recorded vaccine shortage in India signaling alarming bells to the COVID-19 warriors and citizens. While State Governments cry there is a shortage of vaccines, and many vaccine centers presently have closed down, the Central Government lived in denial of this. But now it is evident to all, there are no vaccines.
Massive elections rallies, Kumbh Mela sanctioned by gov and other mega gatherings:
While hospitals were overflowing with coronavirus-infected patients, gasping for oxygen, and nearly full crematoriums and cemeteries worked feverishly around the clock to deal with the dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went ahead with a densely packed campaign rally with happy visuals of his Bengal election campaigns with lakhs flocking without following COVID norms captured the nation in shock.
In Haridwar, millions joyously gathered at Kumbh Mela amidst 1,000 COVID cases recorded including top saints contracting Corona. The cases of COVID in Uttarkhand have leaped dangerously high with death rates increasing now.
Earlier, while WHO issued a statement informing the nations that the virus was a lethal pandemic and the doors to global travel needed to be closed, PM Modi blithely ignored this, and flung caution to the winds. and opened the gates of India to former US President Donald Trump, wife First Lady Melania Trump with an entourage.
Over 125,000 with grand attendance of foreign nationals and Indians crowned the event. While after the event, Gujarat became a hotspot red-zoned COVID “center”, there was not much news on it, not the way they did “breaking news and big “shocking” headlines on Tablighi Jamaat.
It is said the BJP IT cell and media divided the nation on community and religion from this event.
The painful exodus of the migrants from cities back to their villages
The painful exodus of the migrants from cities back to their villages in the very unplanned lockdown led to strategies that are now forgotten.
The infectious pandemic traveled from city to village through the migrants. This is how it spreads, and this could have been avoided had the Center had a plan for them to stay in zones in cities with care provided to them in a venture by the government. Unfortunately, this was never done at that strategic time.
All mass gatherings develop new mutants, and unless the whole population is vaccinated, it will keep mutating. All massive gatherings are lethal as people are constantly warned, and the government knows too, but it seemed they did not care, they just wanted to get what they wanted without bothering about lives exposed to the diabolical virus.
Center to score points over non-BJP State gov deliberately withheld their requirements:
In fact, even now, the Center favors only BJP-ruled states to give free vaccines, oxygen, and medicines, and other help. The other state governments are bearing the costs of vaccines on their own, despite the massive over 2 billion dollar PM Care Funds, which were donated to the Prime Minister from foreign sources. Unfortunately, very little help came for COVID, with no free vaccines, no oxygen or medicine, and heavy red-tapism from the Center that did not allow anything to reach the sick and dying.
The Center’s favoritism once again is proved once again when within 2 days of Cyclone Tauktae, Gujarat got ₹1000 crores as relief from PM Modi, while other states hardly got any disaster relief.
Mr. Srivatsa writes:
Within 2 days of the Cyclone, Gujarat got ₹1000 crores as relief from Modi
In 2019, Karnataka suffered its worst floods in 45 years but Modi & Shah took 2 months to give any relief
Why this bias? This is happening even in COVID relief & Vaccines
One Nation, Gujarat First?
Within 2 days of the Cyclone, Gujarat has got ₹1000 crores as relief from Modi
In 2019, Karnataka suffered its worst floods in 45 years but Modi & Shah took 2 months to give any relief
Why this bias? This is happening even in COVID relief & Vaccines
One Nation, Gujarat First?
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) May 20, 2021
The Center’s priorities wrong:
The Center is going to demolish many grand monumental historic buildings in order to build their “House” and this too at a time when India is rampaged by a violent second wave of the pandemic forcing a lockdown, but for the Central Vista, a project by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the cost of $2.8bn at a time too when other nations have sent money to India for the pandemic.
It can be concluded the pandemic was badly managed.