15 May In COVID storm, the key principles driven home (GS-2, Governance, The Hindu)
Context:- Pandemic situation in india has worsen the lives of the poor people. People without health coverage, without hospitals and with out the bread are about to perish as we have seen from the reports. In this background we are analysing the pertaining issues in the indian state.
Health care, not coverage:- In 1946, from UK the ,concept of universal health care came where access to health care equally without any ceiling on the income was floated.
- Let’s talk about india
- Ayushman Bharat Scheme which is a grand idea of current day government floats on the insurance. Planning commission’s comprehensive document in 2011 nowhere talks about the idea of insurance rather talks about increasing the capacity of public health. Even Ayushman Bharat scheme applied all over india despite this we need to increase our public health.
- The Best example of Public health system is Kerala, it ramped up it’s capacity since 1950’s when it was poor but now it is getting the dividend in terms of human capital, economy etc.
- So we must ramped up the public health capacity by increasing the expenditure from centre as well as state.
Principle faith on science:-
- At many places this government seems distant from the science, during indian science congress many some speaker talked about unscientific claims of indian origin of science i.g. Stem cell science was invented in india. Our prime minister while inagurating the plastic surgery hospital said it is india’s invention and 1st plastic surgery was done on Lord Ganseha.
- On these foot marks current government is going when using unscientific principle such as lightning, thali banging to remove corona etc.
Data integrity:-
- Number of deaths are less reported, number of doctors who died due to the corna infection are less reported.
- Shortage of oxygen, ventilator are less reported.
- This less reporting is somewhere making the fight against corna weak.
- We have eliminated smallpox, polio not because of under reporting but because we had a data and due to this data we made a research and made an effective policy.
Effect on economy and poor:-
- The latest report by the Azim Premji University talks of 230 million Indians slipping below the breadline during the pandemic
- India’s obsession with being Vishwaguru, egged on by misleading analysts deriding “Povertarianism”, talking of “freebies” cannot be a replacement to sound welfarism
What is the way out now
- Government must understand data integrity.
- Accurate reporting of the tragedy unleashed by the virus.
- Spending public health
- A sound research system.
Plutus IAS Current Affair Team Member
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