Let states fight their battles against Covid
The Central government of India must, while leading the war against coronavirus, not fall into the trap of micro-management and usurping the role of state governments, too, and instead let them fight the various regional battles against Covid. The Centre must also be more responsive to the concerns of different states and take ideas, suggestions and requests more seriously.
The reasons are obvious. Indian states are very different and have distinct and unique problems. How can Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, UP and West Bengal be expected to do the same things when their problems are so different?
Chief Ministers have spoken of their requirements, and minds, which must for sake of cooperative federalism find acceptance and resonance in Central policies. Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao has resisted the idea of re-starting general passenger railway train services and sought a hike in FRMB limits to enable his state to raise more financial resources through borrowing. What possibly is preventing the Centre from accepting the second demand?
Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray urged for entire Indian people indeed when he asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show “specific and concrete direction and lockdown”, and sought permission to re-start Mumbai local trains for enabling better movement of emergency personnel.
From Mamata Banerjee to Capt Amarinder Singh have strongly spoken for common sense as much as federalism when they have questioned why the Centre was micro-managing their respective fights against the pandemic. States know better what needs to be done locally, the have argued, correctly.
NDA ally and coalition leader Bihar CM Nitish Kumar spoke from his own experience as a former railway minister as much as the leader of a state which supplies migrant labour to every part of the country when he asked for more trains. BJP chief minister, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has asked for some autonomy and leeway for states in defining the zones — red, orange and green — based on their local requirements.
Every CM and state is fully committed to backing and supporting the Centre in winning the war against Covid. Every state and CM, across party lines, have supported PM Modi. People have shown their trust in Mr Modi’s capability to lead the nation through a crisis of unprecedented nature and humongous proportions. Prime Minister Modi and his Central government must now mirror it and start trusting the states to be able to do better if they are given more autonomy in making local policies on how to raise additional economic resources, extend of lockdown, defining containment zones or procuring PPEs and medical material. The Centre must now focus on policy guidelines based on changing medical knowledge and reprioritise on rebuilding the moribund economy. When Indian states win their respective battles against Covid, and they can, the sum of the parts will add up to a larger win in the national war on Coronavirus. PM Modi must focus on what the Centre must do, and alone can do — try to lure investments from China, get growth story going and continue to lead the nation, without getting too involved in the business of running the states.