COVID-19: Govt propose, Citizens dispose

By now each one of us is well aware of the dangerous threat the COVID-19 pandemic has posed to the entire humanity. We also know how infectious this virus is and how fast it attacks. The daily figures of infected patients in the country and abroad are indication enough to drive my point home. As a primary measure to save people from this pandemic the government imposed a ‘Janata Curfew’ and a series of lockdown measures covering the entire country. This has brought to standstill all the activities, especially the economic activities endangering the country’s economy to a great extent. Besides this, the government has taken up a public awareness campaign informing the people through various media about the intensity of Coronavirus pandemic and advising them to follow certain disciplines to save them from its attack. Unfortunately, people seem to have not learned their lessons from this as news about increasing infections is pouring in from various states.

 

 

When all economic activities are closed down, schools, colleges are shut, and the country is suffering massive economic losses, the people were expected to respond positively to the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19. But the ground reality seems to be far from this. We the people have resolved to dispose of what the government proposed to contain the pandemic. The world was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharat for containing the spread of the COVID-19 in the initial stage. But does our country have that merit today? The government has been asking people to wear masks, use sanitizers, and avoid spitting at public places. How many of us are religiously following these instructions? News about a person being punished for spitting at a public place has become viral on the television today itself. The police on duty have asked the man to wipe out the road with his shirt as punishment. Another shop owner was fined for not wearing masks while managing his shop. These incidents are too many to count.

 

Delhi is the political capital of the country and Mumbai is the financial capital. What is the situation in both these metro cities today? Delhi has crossed 30,000-mark of coronavirus infected patients while Mumbai tops the country with over 50,000 cases. The rainy season is just at our doorsteps and what will happen when the rains start flooding Mumbai’s roads and lanes and low-lying areas get water-logged? Will the academic session begin? Will people get their jobs back and will those working can secure their jobs in the wake of economic slowdown? Incidents of crime are increasing. What will be the situation on that front? Do we really ponder over such questions? Do they disturb us? Unfortunately, we don’t get questions and we don’t need to find out answers to them. We feel that this is the job of the government. Though the government undertook many steps to create awareness, we have decided not to learn our lessons. We are behaving in the most irresponsible manner. A country like New Zealand has become Corona-free and China, where this virus is believed to have taken its first toll, is marching towards becoming a COVID-19-free country.

 

And what is the the situation in Bharat? We have achieved considerable success in containing the spread of the virus in its initial stage. But as the days passed, the country has achieved the distinction of being among top countries infected by the COVID-19. Our irresponsible behavior is the only reason for this. Maharashtra is a developed state, a forward progressing state. But ironically, it is number one in coronavirus spread also. Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Nasik… you name the city and you find the number of COVID-19 patients is ever increasing. As against this, a relatively backward state of Uttar Pradesh has succeeded in checking the spread of the COVID-19 infections to a great extent. The pathetic state of Maharashtra is the result of the inept and inefficient handling of the situation by the government. The three-party autorickshaw government of Uddhav Thackeray has shamelessly failed to take timely and efficient steps to control the virus infection. Now, with ‘UNLOCKDOWN’ the state government has invited the curse of the COVID-19.

 

Recently, a person arranged a party in Nagpur and gifted infection to 70-odd people! Due to efficient administrators like Tukaram Munde, Nagpur has contained the spread of the virus, but this incident is indicative of the situation going out of control of this efficient administrator? People are seen gathering at public places like Futala Tank in Nagpur sans masks and other protective gear. The situation is more or less the same in Mumbai and other places. The most intriguing thing is some people in states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Assam have started believing that this attack of Coronavirus was due to the wrath of the spirit called ‘Korona Mata’ and they have started propitiating the spirit to ward off this danger. This is the level of awareness we have! This is beyond doubt ridiculous to propitiate any such spirit in the belief that it will ward of this danger. But this also reflects on the non-acceptance of scientific approach to deal effectively with such pandemic.

 

Belief or faith in GOD is different from this belief in ‘Korona Mata’ type of spirits. We must have firm faith in GOD we worship to make our minds firm and stable in this fight against the virus. But how will we manage such ‘blind faiths’ being spread in society? Each one of us must be aware of the danger of the pandemic and make others understand its ill-effects on our health? The Government is doing its duty but do we as members of the society have prepared ourselves to defeat the Coronavirus? Bharat is relatively a poor country. The government has been implementing various welfare schemes to alleviate the status of the marginally poor and weaker sections of the society. But it is observed that these schemes are not implemented properly and the majority of the target sections were left untouched by their benefits. This has forced the people to migrate in search of jobs to other states. The recent COVID-19 outbreak saw the re-migration of such migrant workers to their states of origin from their workplaces. Some political leaders have taken advantage of this panicky situation to drive out these migrants to their states also. These workers suffered a lot on their way home; some of them even lost their precious lives on the way. This happened mostly because of the mismanagement of these workers by the respective state governments.

 

It is an open secret that those who went to their home states from industrially developed cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, etc. carried this virus with them infecting the people at home and on way. This apart, those who are staying at their places have not followed the discipline and let go all the restrictions wayward thus contributed in spreading the virus further. The intensity of COVID-19 in places like Dharavi in Mumbai, Mominpura in Nagpur and other cities is only an indication of the serious situation of the future. It is time we wake up and follow the instructions of the government religiously to keep the COVID-19 at a safe distance. Otherwise, it will be a classic case of ‘Government propose and Citizens dispose.