Has Narendra Modi lost the plot in tackling the coronavirus pandemic?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s methods may be useful in dealing with usual political situations but they are unlikely to be of much use in dealing with a viral pandemic

In the past ten days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the nation an unprecedented four times, all about how his administration is responding to the coronavirus pandemic. In each of these addresses, the public at large has been told what they should do for the country, and not what the country will do for them.

When on March 19, Modi went live on TV at 8 pm, he asked people to observe ‘Janata Curfew’ the following Sunday (March 22) and demonstrate the national zeal to defeat the pandemic through a 5 pm thali-bajao exercise. On 24 March when Modi came live, again at 8 pm, he announced a much-feared three-week nationwide lockdown, and from that very midnight. This gave a mere four hour warning, resulting in a late-night panic buying spree. Thousands caught off-guard by the lockdown, who unsurprisingly were daily wage labourers and poor working classes, were forced to pick up their kids and meagre belongings and start walking to their homes in faraway villages. Scores were subjected to exhaustion and hunger. However, in his Mann ki Baat that came a few days later, Modi merely extended an apology for the suffering heaped on the poor and the migrant workers due to the lockdown. Nothing more.

Modi came out once more to speak to the nation on April 3 and thankfully in the morning. Given the widespread criticism of what has come to be known as a #lockdownwithoutplan, the expectation this time was that he would delve into the details of preparedness essential in dealing with this difficult period. This is what leaders of other pandemic affected countries have been doing, spelling out the details and with great sensitivity too. Modi’s speech once again was without any details; as before he asked people to perform yet another public demonstration of their support for ongoing efforts to tackle the pandemic – shine a diya, or candle, or a torchlight from their darkened homes and balconies. There appears to have been very little thought paid to the fact that this nation-wide darkening of homes could result in a grid collapse, and a possible blackout, and that this could potentially jeopardise lives of thousands relying on continuous electricity supply, especially those in critical care.

Pandemic, not politics

But such complexities have hardly been of concern to Modi. His way is to be sparing with the truth but high on hyperbole. His solutions for resolving complex problems are simple and sometimes even simplistic. But his ability to communicate in ways that is accessible to a majority of the population, relying on entreaties of sacrifice for the greater common good proclaimed as fundamentally transformative, is what Modi has done in all his speeches. He did this with demonetisation and in introducing GST, both reforms undertaken without any planning or preparation. Expectedly they have had devastating consequences on the Indian economy and on millions of lives and livelihoods.

To his advantage has been the weak and fragmented Opposition, a largely compromised media and uncritical corporates -- factors that have enabled him to carry on with a form of governance that is didactic and unapologetically explicit in promotion of majoritarian politics based on divisiveness. Such political methods have worked wonders in normative politics, indicated by the thumping majority he gained in the last general elections. Employing which he abrogated Article 370 and then enacted the highly divisive and sectarian Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 disregarding nation-wide protests.

The question is, can such methods work in tackling the pandemic? For dealing with a virus demands a rational approach, which is at once nuanced and scalable. With the exception of Kerala, which prepared well in advance and graded its lockdown, thus arresting the spread of the disease, the rest of the country has been caught rather unprepared. Reliance was heavy on guidance from the Centre, which has largely been reactive, down to writing manuals on how to make masks well after the lockdown was in place. A number of circulars issued by the Ministry of Health and Home Affairs, clarifying various normative aspects of lockdowns on public health grounds, is most revealing of the utter state of disaster unpreparedness.

Swallowing pride and comfort at the sudden erosion of fundamental freedoms and dignity, and dealing with a variety of police excesses, even brutality, people are still faithfully following Modi’s ways in dealing with the pandemic. While one hopes steps taken thus far will pay off, and that the lockdown will end as scheduled, given the woefully underprepared state of India’s health sector and extension of relief measures, the next two weeks are promising to be exceedingly long and excruciating. Every State would do their people a lot of good if they would develop a range of scenarios and be prepared in every manner necessary to deal with the worst-case scenario, i.e., massive spread in infection, high rates of morbidity and also high death rates. It is of utmost necessity that preventive, curative and relief operations are organised ground up so none is left to suffer without care, and due to lack of food, shelter and security.

This situation, in many ways, is the direct outcome of Modi’s style of functioning -- centralised, didactic and disempowering. While such methods may have been useful in dealing with the usual adversarial political situations, it is highly unlikely to be of any use in dealing with a viral pandemic. There is no Opposition to bait here, no legacy to attack. If mishandled, people will suffer, and millions will die. The political comfort one can draw from the fact that this is a global pandemic and so one must grin and bear, or that it has not impacted India as much as it has the rest of the world, are positions unlikely to weigh in Modi’s favour.

Already, news of frontline sanitary, health and police personnel getting infected due to inadequate provisioning of Personal Protective Equipment is filtering in. This is a very disturbing indicator, and does not help build public confidence in the response strategy. Instead of focusing on such crises, the narrative appears to have been deliberately shifted to communalising and criminalising victims of a disease outbreak. Such methods will only spread more fear of the disease and force massive suppression of infections, a nightmarish situation that must be avoided in dealing with a pandemic.

It is high time, therefore, that those in the Centre and state governments who really care about getting India on the right track in dealing with the pandemic, immediately focus attention on drawing from deep and extensive experiences of public health and environmental health experts in the country, and step up efforts to win the trust and build public confidence in the governments’ efforts. It is that collective spirit that can and will help India survive this pandemic, in bringing down the extent of suffering and much-feared socio-economic collapse.

(Leo F Saldanha works on environmental and social justice, and governance concerns through the non-profit, Environment Support Group)

The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.