Central govt missing in action on the Covid front
Over the past 14 months, the track record of the Narendra Modi Government has been a combination of arrogance and negligence. Repeated red flags and medical and scientific advice has been ignored and a sense of hubris has enveloped the central government. The parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare in November 2020 had forewarned the government about the increase in demand of non-invasive oxygen cylinders and hospital beds and had suggested immediate augmentation of medical infrastructure. The Allahabad high court rightly observed that deaths due to lack of supply of oxygen to medical centres is nothing short of genocide. However, the Centre is more inclined to manage perceptions and headlines rather than managing the crisis.
Vaccine availability
There is a global consensus that the only way to defeat the virus is to vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest duration. The irony is that there is an acute shortage of vaccines despite the government opening up vaccination for persons between 18-45 years. This age bracket constitutes about 70% of our population and is the most vulnerable to the mutated strains in the country. Given that inter-state immunisation is the responsibility of the Centre, the Government of India should be the sole procuring agency and is best suited to negotiate a reasonable price from the vaccine manufacturers. This arrangement will be most effective in view of the fiscal space that the Centre has vis-à-vis the states. Thereafter, the Centre should equitably distribute the vaccines among the states to ensure parity. The solution is centralised procurement and decentralised execution. Moreover, the parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare, in a report released in November 2020, had specifically recommended the Centre to devise a plan for the availability of the vaccine. The report also recommended that the Centre ensure that these vaccines are affordable. On both efforts, the Government of India has once again ignored the suggestions of Parliament, and through that affecting the vaccine rollout across the nation.
Vaccine pricing
The differential pricing of vaccines by manufacturers is discriminatory and allows for brazen profiteering in times of a national emergency. While Bangladesh gets a Covishield dose for $3; the states and the private hospitals will get it at $4 and $8, respectively. The solution to ensure adequate stock of vaccines in the shortest possible time is for the Centre to exercise its powers under the Patents Act, 1970, and undertake compulsory licensing of the vaccines. This will enable other pharmaceutical companies to enter the manufacturing space and initiate production. The present catastrophe that has engulfed our country is sufficient justification for the Government of India to exercise its executive powers to save lives. The Centre must consider exercising its plenary powers under the Essential Commodities Act and the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) to prevent black-marketing and exploitation of patients at the hands of unscrupulous manufacturers and traders.
Supply of oxygen and consequential logistics
The Supreme Court has held that the duty to supply and allocate oxygen to states is the responsibility of the central government, whereas the states must ensure off-loading/ receiving the supply from the delivery point and transporting it to the hospitals. In view of the logistical challenges on account of shortage of tankers/ vessels; the Centre should draft/enlist the army and the paramilitary forces to supply oxygen to hospitals from oxygen plants/manufacturing units. The country cannot afford turf wars at a time when we are rapidly losing lives due to the non-availability of oxygen in hospitals.
Transparency
There are widespread reports that the central government and some states are under-reporting the infections/deaths or have deliberately reduced testing to gloss over the extent and scale of the infection. This course of action is counterproductive and gives a false sense of assurance to the public. The only way to defeat the virus is to confront it head on and not indulge in windowdressing. Maharashtra is a case in point, which acknowledged the scale of the problem, took remedial steps and is now turning the curve.
Similarly, several countries have donated us medical aid to battle the crisis. However, the shroud of opacity that surrounds the disbursal of this aid is unfortunate. In times of a crisis, we need more transparency to measure the scale and intensity of the infection and scientifically proceed to defeat the challenge.
Economic package
The double whammy of rising Covid cases is coupled with the inevitable economic downturn and rising unemployment. There are credible reports of over 1 crore people losing their jobs in April itself. The impact on small-medium industries and manufacturing units will be fatal, resulting in permanent closure. A crisis of this nature requires a multi-pronged approach to address the economic implications and for the Government to fill in the vacuum that has resulted from the catastrophe. We suggest that the Government of India immediately implement the NYAY programme advocated by the Congress to provide Rs 6,000 to every household per month, increase the outlay for MGNREGA to tide over the crisis and provide employment to lakhs of migrant workers who have returned to their native villages.
India is at a crossroads. The policy decisions that are taken today will decide the future of our nation. We will either defeat the virus and its concomitant challenges or fall into an abyss that would take us back by decades and wash away the gains made by us post the economic liberalisation of 1991. The time to act is quickly passing and with that, any possibility of course-correction measures is closing. Crores of Indians’ livelihood and health are at stake if the Government of India does not act now.
THE CENTRE SHOULD EQUITABLY DISTRIBUTE THE VACCINES AMONG THE STATES TO ENSURE PARITY. THE SOLUTION IS CENTRALISED PROCUREMENT AND DECENTRALISED EXECUTION