Dear Editor,
Reference is made to SN’s editorial `India’s Covid catastrophe’ (May 8). The editorial is based largely on a commentary by novelist Arundhati Roy, a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and of the BJP. Roy’s commentary and the editorial are an indictment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government. But it lacked objectivity and balance and is replete with factual errors. A critique of India’s handling of Covid should not be based on Ms. Roy’s commentary.
Ms. Roy is a Bengali and her commentary was published in the London Guardian at a time when Bengal was in the midst of holding elections. One, therefore, has to take the critique of the PM and the government with a heavy dose of tasting salt. Also, your editorial itself lacks balance and comes across solely as a critique and not an objective analysis of the ground situation in India and what is being done and more should be done. One needs to ask what is the motive of bringing up displacement and caste issues that followed partition of India? There is no religious or caste violence related to Covid. No one is being denied or given Covid medical attention on account of religion or caste.
Ms. Roy’s commentary in the Guardian, which the editorial drew upon, is ill informed; it is a malicious piece replete with factual errors. It is also unabashedly partisan. She decried Indian’s health system not just in its response to the Covid crisis but in general. However, she failed to mention that the state of India’s health infrastructure is the result of criminal neglect by past governments of which the parties Ms. Roy supported must also be apportioned blame. She noted that Modi allocates some 1.5% of its budget on health but failed to mention there was a significant annual increase over the predecessor government which Roy supported. This year’s budget is 1.37% larger than last year’s. Also, the central government offers health subsidies to the state governments and union territories. Health care in India is free at all central or state government institutions. Indeed, the health care system is overwhelmed. But so were those in the US, Italy, UK, Spain, Poland, Brazil, and so many other countries during their first and second waves.
On assessing the Indian government’s response to Covid, Ms. Roy is somewhat confused and her critique is even more confusing. She criticized the government last year for acting too quickly in imposing a lockdown and attacked the government last month for not imposing a lockdown. She wrote last year that Covid 19 was not a crisis in India when Modi imposed a lockdown. The whole world praised India for managing the first Covid Crisis – with the lowest infection of less than 0.19 rate of death per million, the lowest among large countries. There were issues relating to the lockdown as migrant labourers were left stranded with train services shut down. The government did offer shelter and food to stranded migrants though it was overwhelmed by the need. It is not easy to provide for 500M people. America experienced a challenge to provide for 5M.
Roy’s critique this time around is even more egregious as India seeks to combat this ferocious second wave of COVID-19. The government admitted there was Oxygen shortage and acted on it. But she queried why the PM Cares Fund, specially set up to combat Covid, was suddenly used to address oxygen shortage and whether it was meant “to derive profit” as though it was a business entity. What did she expect the fund to be used for? Is her critique appropriate and objective?
Ms.Roy alleged that Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, two of the manufacturers underpinning India’s vaccination drive, “are making obscene profits”, with Modi’s support, describing their prices as the most expensive in the world. The truth is Indian vaccines are the cheapest in the world at less than half the price of the nearest competitor. Covishield (same used in Guyana) is selling at US$4 per dose and Covaxin is $5.50. In contrast, Pfizer and Moderna are going at around $20 per dose and Sputnik is $10 with Sinopharm around the same. Vaccines at all government administered institutions are free and government is encouraging people to be vaccinated though there is shortage. (US had withheld exports of materials used to make vaccine in India and President Biden authorized exports only last week). People can purchase vaccines at private facilities and many do.
Ms. Roy criticized Modi for holding elections and campaigning in same and for having eight phases of voting. She criticized the government for not having one phase for the election. But the truth is elections in India, unlike in Guyana, are not scheduled by the government. The Election Commission fixes date and phases for elections. It was Modi who initially called for a ban on election campaigning. The elections commission can ban campaigning as it did in the last three phases of voting. And Modi stopped campaigning before the commission’s edict as the Covid raged.
The pandemic has presented India with complex public health challenges. There is no doubt that the Modi government was/is somewhat negligent and complacent in planning for the second wave. It appeared that the government did not expect a second wave because its handling of the first wave so successful. The government did boast in January that the world should emulate India’s handling of Covid because of its very low rate of infection and deaths. The government let its guard down. But one must note that no revolutionary change in health infrastructure can be expected in the short period between the 1st and 2nd wave. It is a myth solely intended to discredit the effort the government has made in addressing the Covid crisis.
Before apportioning all of the blame on Modi’s doorsteps, do understand that India has to take care of 1.4B people. It has managed to vaccinate 170M. The health infrastructure in all of the developed countries could not cope with vaccinating all their people or minimize the effects of Covid. India has the lowest infection and death rate among emerging and developed nations. The US 2.90 and UK 0.95. Italy and Japan are 0.25 and 7.07% respectively. But that does not mean it must sit on its laurels. Yes more needs to be done by the Modi government. The government is tackling the crisis working with and offering state governments assistance. It should begin preparation for a third wave that could be even more devastating.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram
