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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 13 June 2020 (The path not taken (Indian Express))

The path not taken (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Governance
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Assessment of lockdown period in India

Context:

Even after a harsh and unforgiving lockdown of more than 60 days, the curve of COVID infections refuses to flatten.
The health infrastructure retains massive gaps, as two out of three districts lack testing facilities, and patients even in the national capital are dying because they cannot get beds.
This, after the working poor suffered to the extent one cannot even imagine as they trudged hundreds of kilometres to return home.
The contraction of the economy and the destruction of millions of jobs and supply chains signal a worrying surge of mass hunger and unemployment.

Policy failure:

It is apparent the policies of the Union government to battle the pandemic have failed.
People ask: What could the government have done differently?
Wealthy industrialised countries like the United States have been felled by this deadly contagion, they say.
What could a much poorer country have done differently to save the lives of thousands of its people?
The stark answer is — virtually everything.
Begin with the decision whether to impose a nationwide lockdown, that too without notice or preparation.
Had the government consulted widely with public-health experts, epidemiologists, economists, social scientists, and studied the global experience carefully, it would have ruled out the lockdown as bad public health.
In a country in which the large majority live in crowded tenements without water or sanitation, a policy of enforcing radical physical distancing manifests lack of empathy.
We could have, instead, followed the example of South Korea, with a focus on extensive testing, public education and limited containment.

What could have been done?

For the period of a limited lockdown, it should have ensured that every household receives unconditional cash transfers of Rs 7,000, and a universal, expanded public distribution system (including also pulses and oil).
Economists Prabhat Patnaik and Jayati Ghosh have calculated that for three and six months, respectively, this would cost not more than 3 per cent of GDP, and a manageable depletion of India’s ...................

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Way forward:

The government should ensure free water tankers to supply water in slum shanties throughout the day until the pandemic ebbs, to enable people to wash their hands regularly and secure personal hygiene.
It should massively ramp up helplines for both mental health and domestic violence, as well as mental health OPDs and places of safety for battered women.
It should empty custodial beggar homes, women’s homes and children’s homes for those in conflict with the law, and offer, instead, voluntary and dignified places of safety for all at-risk persons.
To make prisons safer, we would use this moment to do what the Supreme Court has directed for decades: To grant bail or discharge all under-trial prisoners except perhaps those with the gravest ......................

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Source of finance:

Most countries which went down the road of lockdown have invested 10 to 20 per cent of GDP on public spending to cushion against hunger and unemployment.
India’s additional public spending turns out to be less than 1 per cent.
The government could impose a cess of 2 per cent on the wealth of just the top 1%, and an inheritance tax of 33%.
This would be more than sufficient to raise all the resources we need for everything I have suggested here.

Conclusion:

Are we likely to do any of this? The clear answer is no.
But not because this is not feasible. It is. Other countries have done all of this.
It will not happen because the government and people of privilege will not allow this to happen.
We cannot blame COVID-19 for the humanitarian crisis which has engulfed us, growing into the worst in most of our lives. We must blame only ourselves.
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Prelims Questions:

Q1. Tiananmen Square massacre, 1989, often mentioned in news, occurred in which of the following country?
(a) North Korea
(b) Vietnam
(c) China
(d) Laos