Hyderabad: Indians, you have done your best in steering India away from the coronavirus. Indian death rate stands at 3.27 per cent, kudos! It is now imperative, we synergise all our energies, to remove the ventilator, and let India and her diverse economy breathe on its own. India needs to get back to work. Red, green or orange, it doesn’t matter. The virus will stay, and we need to prepare ourselves to work with it.
Surprisingly, on the medical front, we have performed well, as India’s recovery rate stands at 27.5 per cent. For the 42,533 cases (as on May 4, 2020) reported, only 1,391 have died. Meanwhile, the Indian economy is cadaverous. The curfew has damaged us more than the virus could ever do.
400 million Indian workers will descend into poverty, as per a recent UN report. And Abhijit Banerjee, Nobel laureate, prognosticated that our GDP may sharply slide by “10-15%” due to the coronavirus. Grim picture? It gets worse. Once we bring into our hearts the thousands, who are ambulating towards starvation and destitution, as they are desperate to find their way home. (One is still shaken by the photo of the man scooping milk from a road in Agra, along with the street dogs). Millions in hotspots like Agra and stuffed in quarantine camps have become a new generation of “untouchables”. Bio-politics is being used to take over the final frontier- our bodies, by the state.
But it is time to cut open the buboes and drain out the pus. For if the economy doesn't open now, we may witness a more grotesque reality- raging civil unrest and more violence.
Virology 101
Viruses are wild beings of nature. Untamed neither by medicine or vaccine, for they are neither living nor non-living. They animate once in favourable host and rest of time lay dead, much like a stone. We must not discard their role in evolution - humans, much like in plants and animals. The virulent ones have attacked us every day, be alive and healthy. Over time, we have evolved immunity and genetic resistance to virulent ones.
Read: COVID-19 and Agriculture: The way out of hunger
The media is filled with news of the vaccine, but a vaccine is at best a nostrum, as we have seen with the case of influenza, each season new vaccines are needed due to changing nature of the pathogen. But that is the icing on the cake, humanity, despite battling for half a century, is unsuccessful in delivering us the HIV vaccine. Doctors, scientists and epidemiologists around the world have already questioned the efficacy of the miracle solution - coronavirus vaccine. India cannot foolishly wait for this vaccine, which may or may not work at all given the strain mutations in India.
Taking lessons from evolutionary history, strong immunity is the only long-term chance we have against any virus, whether it is corona or influenza.
Anyway, despite no available vaccine, we have managed to contain the virus and experience a low death rate. Now, let’s compare this COVID-19 to a really disease TB. Annually, over 1.5 million die from it. Do we shut our economy for it? No. We continue to work, and also allow millions of workers to contribute to our economy, without testing. Why should corona be any different? TB when compared to Corona, is a more dangerous monster, in every way.
Read: Agriculture in the time of COVID-19
It is time to reject variable-dependent-computer-modelling and alternate foreign realities. India needs to be more pragmatic. We have managed to contain the disease without a vaccine. We should no longer shut our economy and restart completely as options to save our economy are running out, and sooner than later, the stimulus will dry up, and our economic torpor may still continue. While millions will be left to die not from the corona but from malnutrition and poor health.
The death-knell is already ringing for the SME companies. We can’t lockdown anymore.
The way back
Corona is a new reality, and we have to live and work with it. There is no reason to fear it. Corona no doubt is highly infectious but has a very low death rate. This is a silver lining. Not to underplay the threat, but reportedly chances of dying from a road accident in Delhi are more than that of Corona.
Agriculture has already been opened up long ago. Which means 70% of Indian workers and the economy is back in action. We need to restart all SME sectors immediately too. This is the easiest way to kickstart India. All work-related movements should be opened up within all states. We can restrict leisure activities for a while. But the core and peripheral economic activities must begin. The recession is not over, and we should be prepared to supply to the world in the time of crisis. This will be the real showcase for Make-in-India.
Read: Is Faith enough to clean the Ganga?
As individual immunity will play a critical role, the government through the AYUSH ministry needs to issue a protocol that people can follow. For example, additional supplements of vitamins and dietary supplements that individuals can take or businesses can provide to their workers to boost their health.
Of course, the government has an obligation to protect the most vulnerable - Older people over 65. But it’s also under an obligation to empower the liberty of the people who are not in the vulnerable group. Each one of us should be allowed to make the choice whether - we want to work or be locked up in our homes and watch our children, mothers, and wives starve. I choose liberty and right to work, for myself and millions of our countrymen who only want dignity and the right to feed their children. They want no charity nor the pity of the wealthy or the government, they want a chance to earn their meal with the labour of their sweat. So even when death comes, she takes them with dignity.
Death is the natural end of all life, hence there should be no fear to face it. What we should fear is the pain and suffering of our loved ones and our inability to follow our Dharm or duty towards them. Money is a very important necessity, along with food and water. We ought to be allowed to work. Let ‘Yamraj’ or grim reaper choose who he/she may, but until that day, we shall do our duty to our families, our loved ones and our nation. We have a duty to work and uplift our local economies and businesses. If we can persevere now, we will be the economic power we want to be. Days of fear are over, it’s time we all do our duty, rebuild a life of dignity, abundance and happiness.
(The author, Indra Shekhar Singh, is the Director – Policy and Outreach, National Seed Association of India)
