The Indian Government (Varshini Batti)
Fact-Checked Source: "PM Modi Address to the nation on coronavirus"
On March 19, 2020, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a 30 minute speech to the public about the novel coronavirus and its effects, and how the country should cooperate with the government in order to stay safe and be healthy.Looking Deeper: Five Facts Checked
In order to better understand the significance of this speech, I have verified five claims it presents about the coronavirus pandemic.Claim 1: And how does one practice patience? By staying away from crowds and gatherings, avoiding leaving your homes. This is called "Social Distancing" nowadays, and is critical in these times of the global corona pandemic.
This claim is interesting to analyze because in India, social distancing can be seen both as an advantage and a disadvantage. An article from IndiaToday confirms this.
A single COVID-19 patient can potentially infect 406 people within 30 days without any social distancing,but if proper measures are followed the possibility of the infection can be cut down to just 2.5 people per patient.
However, an article from CNN states this.
But the chaos unfolding across India in recent days has spelled out that for the 74 million people -- one sixth of the urban population -- who live cheek by jowl in the country's slums, social distancing is going to be physically and economically impossible.
To better enforce social distancing and safety, Prime Minister Modi also enforced "The Janata (People's) Curfew".
This Sunday, that is on 22nd March, all citizen must abide by this people’s curfew from 7 AM until 9 PM. During this curfew, we shall neither leave our homes, nor get onto the streets or roam about our localities.Only those associated with emergency and essential services will leave their homes.
After Modi's order, an article from the Economic Times claims that many people followed his advice and states this.
In the national capital, roads were deserted with barely some private vehicles and buses plying. Vendors were off the roads in the morning hours with people confining themselves to their homes.
As a result, the Janata Curfew made international headlines. In fact, an article from Deccan Herald states this.
"Inspiring to see people across India coming together despite being physically apart to applaud workers on the frontlines combatting COVID-19," Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells said in a tweet on Monday.
The People's Curfew is Modi's way of uniting the public under one common goal: fighting against the virus and creating a safe and healthy India.
Analytic Essay
"If we stay healthy the world will": The Indian Government and Healthcare during the Global Pandemic
As COVID-19 takes its toll on the world, the importance of cooperation between countries has dramatically increased. One of the countries that is being rapidly affected by the virus is India. With the second largest population in the world, India is full of people from diverse backgrounds. However, due to the current pandemic, the country is at risk for spreading the disease rapidly due to its large population and the confined spaces most of its population lives in. Therefore, the Indian government and their strict measures to battle against COVID-19 is crucial in helping India be healthy and safe.In the past, India has underperformed when it comes to its healthcare facilities. Even with an economic growth of 7%, the public health industry is poorly funded with only about 1.2% of GDP going towards healthcare, which is among the lowest in the world(Golechha,2015). A constrained health workforce, lack of advanced laboratories and technology, have all counted negatively towards India’s healthcare system. As for the general public, over 40 million people in India have no proper access to healthcare due to higher costs of getting treatments. However, since 2015, the government has given healthcare access to all people as a top priority.
The current medical crisis has increased the risk of India’s people being in danger. Dr. Laxminarayan, an epidemiologist, states that studies done in China show that people with hypertension and diabetes have a greater chance of contracting COVID-19 and dying from it. “About a third of India’s population is hypertensive, and over 1 in 10 adults are diabetic”(Laxminarayan,2020). High rates of malnourishment and poverty make it even worse for the younger populations. In order to address these issues, the government has taken strict action to make sure India is safe for its citizens.
With the initial rise of positive cases around January 2020, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a 30 minute national broadcast to the citizens of India to explain the current medical crisis. As the Prime Minister of such a large country, many people depend on him for conveying and offering hope in the time of crisis. He states that while there are relatively less cases that are positive in India compared to other countries, India will also be inevitably affected by COVID-19 (Hindustan Times, 2020). Throughout the broadcast, he uses nationalist phrases to unite the nation under the common goal of fighting the virus. He also uses colloquial phrases such as “Hum Swasth toh Jag Swasth”, meaning “if we are healthy, then the world will be healthy”, to help citizens all over India to understand why social distancing is important and why they should trust him in order to make sure that India does not become a hotspot for the virus.
Modi also proposes various rules for citizens to follow to maintain their health as well as inform others about staying safe. He asks every citizen of India to follow the Janata (People’s) Curfew by staying at home from 7 AM to 9 PM on March 22,2020. To honor the healthcare workers at the frontlines that are putting their lives at risk so that others could stay safe, he encourages people to stand outside their balconies and “clap our hands, beat our plates, ring our bells, to boost their morale and salute their service” (Hindustan Times, 2020). He also encourages the youth activist groups in India such as NCC and NSS to spread awareness about the curfew and social distancing. Instead of focusing only on the severely affected population, Modi addressed all groups of people that reside in India to come together and make an active effort to keep themselves and others safe. By doing so, he gains the support of his citizens and government workers who are able to work to keep India safe.
The Indian government values the response of citizens in the country as well as the scientific progress on a cure to COVID-19. With its low-budget science and research industry, it is already difficult for scientists to rapidly find a cure. However, the government has now set up a committee to monitor the amount of testing kits for each lab so that more testing kits can be given wherever needed. Scientists from CSIR (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) have found a “paper strip-based testing assay that can detect the viral RNA”, which can save time and money for tests (Srivastava,2020). The NII(National Institute of Immunology) has started taking blood samples from patients who have already recovered to examine their antibodies and look into antibody therapy. With the government’s help, technologists have also come up with a “Corona Kavach” app which can warn people if someone who tested positive is near them and use bluetooth technology to show people who are suspected to be infected (Srivastava,2020).
The Indian government’s perspective is crucial to determining the future of India and the world. The rapid increase in COVID-19 cases is bringing change to India’s healthcare system to better equip its citizens with the tools they need to stay healthy during a medical crisis. In the end, the collaboration between the Indian government and the scientific community in India is key to ensuring the safety and security of 1.3 billion lives and ultimately winning a war against the virus.
References
PM Modi address to the nation on Coronavirus: Read full speech text here.(2020,March 19).Hindustan Times.Retrieved April 11,2020,from https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-modi-speech-on-coronavirus-read-full-speech-text-here/story-Ipkr5lg5C2ib8iGs6GVFSL.html
This source is a transcript of a speech given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the coronavirus pandemic. This source is taken from Hindustan Times, which is a popular nationalist newspaper in India. I can tell that the perspective it shows is that of Narendra Modi on behalf of the government because of how the Prime Minister mentions words such as "Finance Ministry" and activist organizations such as NCC, NSS, and Civil Society. The source also shows a very unifying and nationalist perspective because the Prime Minister uses words and phrases such as "Friends", "Hum Swasth toh Jag Swasth- which means that if we are healthy then the world will be healthy",etc. The main purpose of this source is to inform the public of the actions that the government is taking to ensure the public's safety and to unify India under one common goal which is to fight the coronavirus and ensure the health of the nation. P.M. Modi starts off by talking about the current events that are occurring globally and India's current state in the pandemic. He also mentions the actions that the government is taking to ensure that the Indian public is safe and secure. He also gives a word of encouragement to the public and gives them instructions on how to properly practice social distancing and to inform as many members of their family or their community about the disease. This source will provide a really good insight into the perspective of the way India is reacting to the issue because this is the primary way that Modi is able to keep in contact with his people and is the primary way of the Indian public to know what their government is doing to battle this pandemic.Laxminarayan,Ramanan.(2020,March 27).What India Needs to Fight the Virus. New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html
This source comes from the New York Times and is written by Ramanan Laxminarayan, who is an economist and an epidemiologist. I can tell that this shows the perspective of a person who has a background and knowledge in the field of health science because of the type of evidence that the writer mentions throughout the source. He uses data such as the number of people who are hypertensive in India and the pollution rates in India and connects it back to how India will be impacted by the virus. It serves as a prediction of what will happen to the Indian public regarding the coronavirus. The writer first talks about India's current state with the pandemic and establishes credibility by saying that he has been working with many researchers from India to gather and interpret data regarding the coronavirus. He also mentions statistical data of people who have health conditions that can increase their chances of contracting the virus. This source gives a great perspective of a person who is an intellectual and provides great information on India's future and how it is going to be affected by the dangerous virus. This source is also more data-based, which helps in understanding the extent of what India needs to fight the coronavirus.Srivastava,Vanita.(2020,April 1).Indian scientists wage frontline battle against coronavirus. Nature India.https://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2020.56
This source is from Nature India, which is an information website made by Nature Publishing Group which gives the latest information in science and medicine. The perspective of the source is that of a journalist who gives an overview of several scientific organizations that are working towards creating a vaccine for COVID-19 and are working with the Indian government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.The source gives a brief overview of the current situation and the 21 day lockdown in India and P.M. Modi's orders. It then goes on to describe different scientific organizations such as C-CAMP(Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms) and elaborates on the process that is taking place between different scientific organization in order to cure the virus. This source was interesting to look at because it actually provides information about what the scientific community in India is currently doing in terms of taking action and developing a cure towards the coronavirus. It also shows how multiple branches of science such as genetics and virology come together to propose a solution towards a deadly virus that is impacting the country with the second largest population and the world in general.Golechha M. (2015). Healthcare agenda for the Indian government. The Indian journal of medical research, 141(2), 151–153. https://doi.org/10.4103/0971-5916.155541
The author is a renowned researcher and works as part of the Health, Economics, and Financing Department of the Public Health Foundation of India. The author uses data from past years and talks about the economy of India and government's state in handling the economy. They also give solutions as to what the government can do to increase health security in India. The author first summarizes the effects that the healthcare industry has on India and the economy's wellbeing in India over the previous years. He then goes on to talk about how the healthcare industry is dependent on the economy and how it can actually benefit the economy by providing data. He also gives certain suggestions for the Indian government in order to increase their focus on the healthcare industry by giving examples from other large capitalist countries such as the United States. I think this source can provide some data into the Indian government's performance over the last few years and can give insight into how the citizens perceive India's healthcare strategies to be like. It also provides a basis which I can compare India's current measures and focus on healthcare to so that I can see the difference in how India approached healthcare then and how it approaches it in the midst of this pandemic.