There is no doubt that the Indian government has been very incompetent in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Before wishing for a change of government, it is necessary to understand the nadir of ethical values ​​that played a vital role in independent India’s greatest humanitarian crisis.
Many people have been deprived of their sanity, sanity and money in this pandemic. There are no more rules if you want to save someone. People pay up to ₹ 50,000 ($ 683; € 560) for an ambulance; ₹ 100,000 or more per day for the admission of a loved one to the hospital. We are bombing black market rates to buy basic necessities like medical oxygen and antiviral drugs.
How did we come to this stage of ethical imbalance and moral abrogation?
An ethics system that has always failed us
We have had nearly 75 years to create a democracy to protect the needy and create opportunities for people of all castes and classes. Instead, the privileged have accumulated more privileges and the poor have become poorer.
Over the past seven decades, basic necessities like quality health care have been confined to the private sector, which primarily caters to the privileged or connected people. When the pandemic put pressure on the private sector, the rich and privileged pulled all the strings possible for their loved ones, leaving the needy in dire straits.
Today, India’s richest man is not prepared to waste even 10% of his wealth on helping the same country whose broken system allowed him to earn up to a quarter of the country’s GDP. Meanwhile, celebrities are asking for donations from citizens of a country where nearly 30% of the population lives below the poverty line.
The pandemic has also exposed the blatant lack of ethics of highly qualified administrative and police officers. Why are most of our bureaucrats unable to run the country effectively or hold politicians accountable, yet can they be found on the front lines to get favors for themselves and their children?
It is a common adage in India that in anything that involves government, the process will be slow and government officials will be lazy. This happened because we built a system that reduced the proficient to incompetence.
A country that wants to become an economy of 5,000 billion dollars (4,000 billion euros) must first build confidence in its system before setting itself more ambitious goals.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Social distancing, a joke?
People – many without masks – shop at a vegetable market in Mumbai. India is struggling to contain a massive coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 24 million infections recorded to date. The country has recorded around 260,000 deaths linked to the virus. According to medical experts, these numbers are grossly underreported.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Shortage of essential supplies
A young man unloads empty oxygen cylinders for refilling in Srinagar, Kashmir. India’s health infrastructure has come under severe strain in recent days, with several states reeling from shortages of medical oxygen, essential drugs, beds, health workers and vaccines, among other supplies vital.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Crematoriums invaded by bodies
Volunteers from a non-profit organization carry bags full of unclaimed ashes belonging to COVID-19 victims to a crematorium in New Delhi. As the intense second wave of coronavirus hits India, apocalyptic scenes of mass cremations have emerged, as queues of bodies wait outside overwhelmed crematoriums.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Disregard scientific evidence
A man bathes in cow’s milk to remove cow dung from his body during “cow dung therapy” at a cow shelter on the outskirts of the city of Ahmedabad. Participants believe that cow feces enhance their body’s ability to defend itself against the virus. The Indian government has faced increased criticism for ignoring scientific evidence and warnings about variants.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Concern about new variants
A worker carries bricks on her head in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the variant of the coronavirus B.1.617 – first detected in India last October – as a “variant of concern”. Epidemiologists note that this variant may be more resistant to vaccines.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
No nationwide lockdown
Police officers check the credentials of delivery staff at India’s main food delivery service, Zomato, in the southern city of Kochi. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has refused to announce a nationwide lockdown for economic reasons, several states have imposed strict restrictions and nighttime curfews to curb the spread of the virus.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Scramble to get home
A woman arrives at a bus stop in Jaipur to leave for her hometown, after authorities in the western state of Rajasthan announced a lockdown. Many people have left major cities for their towns and villages to avoid a repeat of the massive migrant crisis that accompanied India’s first coronavirus lockdown last year.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Living with the virus?
A young man is seen carrying cans of beer as liquor stores in several parts of Uttar Pradesh are reopened. The northern state, led by modest ally Yogi Adityanath, has experienced one of the biggest epidemics in the country. In recent days, several bodies have washed up on the banks of the Ganges, which crosses the state. Many believe they are victims of the virus.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
Politics in the midst of a pandemic
Catholic nuns wear protective masks while waiting to vote outside a polling station in Calcutta. The government has come under fire for organizing regional elections and mass rallies at a time when the country was sinking into chaos due to the new wave. Since the start of the pandemic, the state of West Bengal has so far recorded more than 1.05 million infections.
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COVID in India: Life goes on as bodies pile up
A long way to go
A man dressed as a clown sprays disinfectant outside a house in Mumbai. He told Reuters he wore other different costumes in addition to dressing up as a clown to raise awareness and spread information about the coronavirus. Many in India fear the second wave is far from being contained and if the virus spreads relentlessly, mass grief and mourning may soon be replaced by apathy.
Author: Seerat Chabba
Stop looking for models
It is time for Indians to stop looking for role models to escape their reality and start arguing for real reform. We must accept that our lives will not be solved by money, good degrees, immigration to the West, religious gurus or by becoming a government official.
Our life in this country is much larger than the pursuit of superficial goals and it is our responsibility to work collectively for development.
But development is a pluralistic term and requires a collective effort. The first step is to appreciate our federal structure and work to strengthen our state governments.
The political center, led by the BJP, is there to facilitate administration, but not to become the center of vile religious fanaticism. Religious policy will simply do more harm than good for India because it will divide the nation. The concept of divide and rule was used by the British to divide India into two religions, but we must not go back on this path if we are serious about getting rid of our colonial hangover.
The ruling party must get ahead of the curve and prepare for the next wave of the pandemic and create safeguards for the needy. The first step in this process is not to make vaccines a basic necessity, a privileged reserve.
It is true that India needs to see change as soon as possible. But, before we call for change, it is necessary that we address this rot within our ethics that will tear the fabric of whatever comes its way – even a new government.
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