Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always had little to complain when it came to commanding a captive audience and their support. His four telecasts to the nation since the pandemic began in India have drawn record viewership. Whether it was calling for the one-day janata curfew, declaration of the lockdown or saluting the medical workers by banging plates and lighting lamps, he has found the masses respond to his appeal. The extension of the lockdown did not provoke any outburst as many expected this to happen. They shared the government’s belief that this was the most appropriate option.
Yet a day later, Modi had to frown at a social media campaign claiming to honour him. Suspecting foul play, he told his well-wishers that if this plan was indeed out of goodwill for him, people should take responsibility for taking care of at least one poor family. Beyond the note of mild rebuke in the PM’s tweets in this regard, there appeared to be apprehension among the top echelons that the battle of perception is never-ending.
Amid a deluge of fake Twitter, WhatsApp and TikTok posts, the government’s arm, the Press Information Bureau (PIB), has had to set up a portal—Covid-19 Fact Check Unit. Receiving queries by email, it has been giving responses in quick time on Twitter. This is besides the daily bulletin issued every day regarding the government’s decisions, developments and progress on containing Covid-19.
Notwithstanding such efforts, Modi’s aides have had to contest claims by sections among detractors and political rivals that are resorting to rumours and extrapolation to spread confusion they hope may result in a bad situation for the government. These sections were encouraged by the unrest among huge numbers of migration workers, which was first witnessed in Delhi close to the UP border in the last week of March, and, more recently, outside the Bandra railway station in Mumbai and in Surat, Gujarat.
They have been preceded or followed by innumerable stories of men, women and children even ready to trek back to their homes in eastern UP, Bihar, and Odisha in the absence of buses and trains. In most instances, such flights appeared to be instigated by their employers, landlords or even hapless administrators who promised transport to the nearest border.
This is not to deny that untold economic hardship and impatience over the lockdown measures have brought misery to the most vulnerable citizens. These people are also worried about their kith and kin back in their villages and would feel safer in their company.
Their mental plight in relief camps waiting for food to be handed to them is painful as everyone waits for the lockdown to be lifted and the pandemic to die out. Consequently, some unverified buzz about the start of buses and trains for their destinations, backed by messages circulated by doubtful political characters, have only led to chaos and the resultant police response.
There are also disturbing reports about those under testing resorting to attacks on medical workers in quarantine zones and hospitals, forcing doctors to seek protection.But the question has remained as to who are the characters hell-bent on enlarging the crisis for the Centre and some state governments,if not for all? Some opposition leaders have mounted criticism that many states did not get adequate time as the Centre had not intimated them in advance about the lockdown—when the first positive case was reported at the end of January and the restrictions were suddenly imposed from March 24 midnight. It is another story that the lockdown has been supported by the affected states that asked for it to
be extended.
The Centre has argued that it acted in right earnest with whatever resources at its command. Any administrative lacunae, bottleneck and inadequacy has been done away with—whenever and wherever they have occurred. Of course, the states too must play their part as the lockdown—if enforced in full letter and spirit—is set to bring results to check the contagion. In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on April 14, the Centre held that 54 lakh people had been given food since the lockdown started. Another 30 lakh were being fed by NGOs. Employers and factory owners were giving shelter and food to another 15 lakh people. An additional 60,000 people have taken refuge at relief camps, mostly run by the non-profit sector. The number of relief camps and shelters run by various governments is 22,567 and by NGOs 3,909, the affidavit said.
The silver lining is that, despite the rise in the number of cases in the past few days, India has just 2% of the total number of cases and only 1.5% of Covid-19 deaths in the world. The rise in the number
of cases is also showing signs of slowing down. However, there is deep concern in some quarters that India has not been able to test enough to count all cases and deaths, opening to the possibility of an underestimation of the severity of the crisis.But Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has held that the country had done better than most other affected nations—in first testing the travellers arriving from abroad, tracing their contacts and families, and finally enforcing quarantines marking the cluster and containment zones. Now, with the arrival of lakhs of rapid testing kits, surveillance is bound to increase manifold in many places.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is indicating that he is biding time for a full-scale fusillade—once he is clear that Modi is failing. But will Modi let that happen?
Shekhar Iyer
The writer is a senior journalist. This column will appear every fortnight