Falling behind the Curve Is Not an Option

The country is amidst the most critical crisis in memory, with the second wave pushing up daily new COVID-19 transmissions above the 4-lakh mark last week and making India the global epicentre of the pandemic. While nations across the world jettison decade-long economic orthodoxies to reorient policies and face the new challenges, the political leadership in India seems to be caught in a time warp with the central government squirming and obfuscating as it is forced to defend itself in the national and international media. Moreover, the union government’s eagerness to score some brownie points over political rivals and chief ministers has only further complicated the already dismal scenario.

Last week, as the pandemic raged through the national capital, the union government hastily notified the new law replacing the elected chief minister with the lieutenant governor as the head of the Delhi government. With vaccination rate decelerating and state chief ministers clamouring for more vaccines, the union government assured the Supreme Court that adequate stocks were available. Exasperated, the Supreme Court was forced to set up a committee to oversee the distribution of oxygen supplies and is now reviewing vaccine policies to accelerate vaccinations. The cabinet and the union government seem to be trapped in a virtual make-believe world built on sweet but empty slogans it spews out to defend itself each day.