India has responded to the spectre of large-scale transmission of the novel coronavirus followed by a complete national lockdown. The government envisions to flatten the transmission curve and help a frayed health system cope with the rising number of cases. The nation has ensured physical distancing of people following the suspension of rail and inter-State bus services, closure of public places, cessation of all non-essential activity and street-level monitoring. These are crucial steps during a pandemic and the lockdown can ensure it.
The options being used by States to enforce the lockdown are Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and the Indian Penal Code. What must follow is the galvanising of governmental machinery to address enforcements.
But the compliance was certainly not evident on Sunday during the janata curfew, which saw near-total compliance, but culminated in noisy public celebrations by end of the day. It was also marked by chaos and scramble among migrant labour stuffing themselves into trains to return home ahead of the shutdown.
Scores of people remained stranded in several cities, crowding termini, as train services were withdrawn. These hapless people, who must largely fend for themselves, have been potentially exposed to the pathogen while unwittingly infecting others. The week-long lockdown ahead cannot become a chaos, confusion and misery. Â Scary than a war-like moment in the country, it calls for massive preparation with all hands on deck to mitigate the impact on people, and to formulate a public health response for the period beyond the shutdown.
They must swear allegiance to ensure that the most vulnerable classes, economically and socially, including the elderly, have access to essential articles including medicines, close to where they live. These classes of people should be provided with a package of staples to last a week using civil supplies departments, civic workers, and non-governmental organisations.
As per a survey, about 37% of households depend on casual labour as their major source of income for rural and urban India, and nearly 55% have tenuous regular. Thus, it is essential for governments to ensure that they get subsistence wages for as long as restrictions last.
Fund transfers during the containment phase of the pandemic, followed by a stimulus to sustain employment are necessary. But a bigger challenge poses India: can it get a universally accessible testing system in place to prevent transmission when the lockdown is lifted?
The majorly hit states by the pandemic, China, South Korea and Singapore adopted a strict shutdown, but used the breather to get a grip on infections by testing at the population level. This is the hard work that lies ahead, and it will test the spirit and resilience of India’s national and State governments.
