Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy’s Law seems to be catching up with the Odisha government as the end of second-phase lockdown draws to a close. Suddenly, the numbers have spiked. In about a fortnight, the Covid-19 cases have doubled. Compared with some of the larger states, the situation appears comfortable but there is an undercurrent of discomfort nonetheless. And May 3 brings more unease as the lockdown is expected to be lifted across the country.
Odisha certainly did begin well. A registration system for foreign returnees with incentives drew good response and solid national headlines. It used the data to impose lockdown in coastal districts where most of the initial cases were reported. It also set up a series of dedicated Covid Hospitals. When the Tablighi Jamaat cluster emerged in Delhi, Bhubaneswar was among its first hotspots. Containment zones were declared and the government moved aggressively through intensive testing and isolation though it fumbled with provision of essential services and its much-vaunted communication machinery had its share of goof-ups.
Then the government realised that districts bordering West Bengal are a grey area. Between April 10 and April 26, as many as 53 cases were reported, most of which came from Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balasore districts where people returned from Bengal during lockdown. It had to close the border completely and announce a 60-hour complete shutdown in these districts to control the spread.
The government is now staring at a bigger task. A large population from Odisha migrates every year to other states in search of livelihood and the lockdown has left them stranded. With factories and mills shut, migrant workers are a restless lot. Stories of hardships back home has made them more desperate to return. Guess where this population is stuck — Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana (and we are not still talking about West Bengal), which are grappling with the outbreak. When the lockdown is lifted, these migrant workers would head home. Already, thousands are back in Ganjam but a bigger number is awaiting relaxation of restrictions. All of a sudden, the government has realised that it would be faced with lakhs on their way back.
Back in March and early April when the government was devising its strategy, it remained oblivious to the fact that the migrants’ issue could blow up in this fashion although it had created temporary quarantine facilities at every gram panchayat. But now the capacity of these camps and centres looks inadequate and all its strategies look reactionary. That is primarily because there was barely any assessment about migration trends. A key concern has been the government’s reluctance to take the political class on board. Had there been a constant interface with MLAs and ministers representing these districts, the ground-level intelligence would have helped sharpen the strategy. Truth be told, outward migration has remained the Achilles’ heel for the Naveen administration for long. Its Labour department has little clue about it.
Different departments and spokespersons continue to throw different numbers at different times even now.The government has now empowered sarpanchs with certain powers vested with District Collectors to deal with the migrant problem apart from putting in place a registration system and a financial support deal. On Sunday, Naveen had a video conference with his Gujarat and Maharashtra counterparts. It has been decided that a panel of officers will be constituted to coordinate and migrants would be brought back by bus. At this stage, it appears like a desperate attempt.
Over the past few weeks, the State government has ramped up testing facilities but going forward, its strategy would be tested in face of the challenges ahead. Panchayati Raj, Health and Labour departments will have a real job at hand if the Centre relaxes movement of transport between states post-May 3. The virus crisis is unlikely to go away soon. The summer promises to be long, harsh and arduous one for the Naveen regime.
Siba Mohanty
Deputy Resident Editor, Odisha
sibamohanty@newindianexpress.com