On 1 May India will unveil the third leg of its jab plan, once again showcasing its amazing ability to pull off projects of scale using indigenous digital tech. EPISODE #20
The blame game and fault finding has gone through the roof. The opposition is attacking the government as if it will be now or never. The government also while defending itself is firing on all cylinders in assigning the blame on the opposition and the states being ruled by them. The acrimonious exchanges appear to be more important than tending to the sick and dying. Fortunately, certain key people are concentrating on planning and executing the required relief. The need of the hour is to pool resources and experience to tackle the situation. I hope it is not too late before good sense prevails and humanitarian feelings prevail over greed for power and money. As usual Anil you have identified the crucial need of the hour. Keep up the good work.
Every newspaper seems to have a slew of commentators who commentate on everything under the Sun. Covid-19 is their current pastime. As usual they point out the flaws in the way the Government and of course the ruling party have handled the pandemic. Somewhere in the narrative is just wee bit of a hint that the ruling party is incompetent and things might have been better under some other dispensation. None has a suggestion how things can be improved from now onwards.
At the risk of joining the same ranks (albeit not being a professional commentator, I may be excused, please) I would like to say the following:
1. It is a fact that the bureaucracy of the country, but for some honourable exceptions, has failed miserably. The fault may lie with the Political leadership in Ministries which possibly tried to play the Chief Executive in every field but more so with the bureaucrat who yielded this space over the past decades and abdicated the responsibility for which they were bred in the system.
2. The sheer disdain for experts that has been visible in every field and the need to dominate all spaces where the Politician does not enter has resulted in our administrative system being woefully ill-equipped to handle such emergencies.
3. It won't be correct to ascribe our inability to handle this pandemic to its once in a century frequency. The administration has to war-game such situations and develop protocols for such events which can be suitably modified around a basic structure of responses and proactivity.
4. While the emergency action on containing the 2nd wave would need to continue apace, the time is more than ripe to create an action plan to prevent, or at the worst, limit the 3rd wave. Enough learning has occurred from the first two waves to develop a strategy and not only tactics for such approach.
5. Relying on Political leadership to provide guidance in what is essentially in administrative domain should be given a go-by. There is enough talent and experience and good intent available in the system to take this initiative on war-footing right now.
A very informative article.When I read it on Monday , It gave me hope that things will slowly improve now with vaccination drive , COWIN ,Etc. But each day things are getting worse it seems. 114 million people you mention who have been vaccinated in India, are only around 1.8% of our population. In USA it is around 40% of the population,.Israel has inoculated its entire adult population. they realized at the onset of the pandemic last year that the only way to beat the virus was through herd immunity. They were aware of the economic cost of lockdown. As always the Indian people are paying a huge price for incompetent and oversized political setup. Milton Friedman has said "all bad government comes from big govt."
We cannot fully blame the government.Citizens have been careless and irresponsible.Given how aggresive and unpredictable the virus is , protection is by keeping out of its path.That means minimising outside movement and wearing masks.We need to introspect whether we have discharged our civic duty as good citizens? .As Tagore said this is the time when it is to........Ekla chalo re. lets hope that "this too shall pass.......
Anil, you make an interesting set of points, and raise an interesting set of questions. Some thoughts in response:
1. Blame is an expression of collective frustration about what is happening, but ultimately too much of it is unproductive, and distorts perspectives. It also hardens positions.
2. Social media is - in my opinion - an organising structure. It can create communities like the ones seeking to access ways of getting people medicines, treatment and hospital beds, or plants ideological flags that draw like-minded people into a different kind of community. The most egregious outcome is polarisation. Like you, I’ve withdrawn from most platforms.
3. I think it’s important to draw a distinction between responsibility and accountability. The first is shared, the second cannot be. In the blame game, accountability takes a back seat. It matters, because it’s accountability - which also means answerability - that gives us lessons for the future, both immediate and long-term.
4. We - as individuals and parts of organisations - are held accountable for the decisions we take and duties we are charged with every day. Political leadership is accountable for action or inaction - both of which are decisions - for their duties too.
5. The state of our medical system and infrastructure is a discussion that will stretch the limits of your calculus :) and mine. It warrants a complete and detailed discussion I hope you’ll take up. But this much we know: it’s been neglected for too long, and if we continue to let this happen, this neglect can be classified as wilful.
Let’s hold people - ourselves, politicians, the bureaucracy - accountable.
Brilliantly linked the mass vaccination drive with Aadhar no. Even in the US people are getting slips of paper. But we are getting digital confirmation.
Anil atleast some influential journalist has the guts of going against the flow to highlight the positives especially technology being used to roll out the only counter for Cheene Wuhan Corona Virus. Thanks. Indians have realised very fast the benefits of Aadhar and Direct Transfers of money especially MSP. And the technology revolution we are witnessing. Wow, what an article amidst the gloominess of Wuhan Corona Virus attact.
Anil congratulations to you for your acumen to highlight the silver lining in a crisis. Truly appreciate the way you have highlighted the AADHAR and its emergence as foundation for ushering in projects of macro size for the benefit of the public at large ! Keep it up the cheers during such difficult time!
The blame game and fault finding has gone through the roof. The opposition is attacking the government as if it will be now or never. The government also while defending itself is firing on all cylinders in assigning the blame on the opposition and the states being ruled by them. The acrimonious exchanges appear to be more important than tending to the sick and dying. Fortunately, certain key people are concentrating on planning and executing the required relief. The need of the hour is to pool resources and experience to tackle the situation. I hope it is not too late before good sense prevails and humanitarian feelings prevail over greed for power and money. As usual Anil you have identified the crucial need of the hour. Keep up the good work.
Every newspaper seems to have a slew of commentators who commentate on everything under the Sun. Covid-19 is their current pastime. As usual they point out the flaws in the way the Government and of course the ruling party have handled the pandemic. Somewhere in the narrative is just wee bit of a hint that the ruling party is incompetent and things might have been better under some other dispensation. None has a suggestion how things can be improved from now onwards.
At the risk of joining the same ranks (albeit not being a professional commentator, I may be excused, please) I would like to say the following:
1. It is a fact that the bureaucracy of the country, but for some honourable exceptions, has failed miserably. The fault may lie with the Political leadership in Ministries which possibly tried to play the Chief Executive in every field but more so with the bureaucrat who yielded this space over the past decades and abdicated the responsibility for which they were bred in the system.
2. The sheer disdain for experts that has been visible in every field and the need to dominate all spaces where the Politician does not enter has resulted in our administrative system being woefully ill-equipped to handle such emergencies.
3. It won't be correct to ascribe our inability to handle this pandemic to its once in a century frequency. The administration has to war-game such situations and develop protocols for such events which can be suitably modified around a basic structure of responses and proactivity.
4. While the emergency action on containing the 2nd wave would need to continue apace, the time is more than ripe to create an action plan to prevent, or at the worst, limit the 3rd wave. Enough learning has occurred from the first two waves to develop a strategy and not only tactics for such approach.
5. Relying on Political leadership to provide guidance in what is essentially in administrative domain should be given a go-by. There is enough talent and experience and good intent available in the system to take this initiative on war-footing right now.
Dear anil,
A very informative article.When I read it on Monday , It gave me hope that things will slowly improve now with vaccination drive , COWIN ,Etc. But each day things are getting worse it seems. 114 million people you mention who have been vaccinated in India, are only around 1.8% of our population. In USA it is around 40% of the population,.Israel has inoculated its entire adult population. they realized at the onset of the pandemic last year that the only way to beat the virus was through herd immunity. They were aware of the economic cost of lockdown. As always the Indian people are paying a huge price for incompetent and oversized political setup. Milton Friedman has said "all bad government comes from big govt."
We cannot fully blame the government.Citizens have been careless and irresponsible.Given how aggresive and unpredictable the virus is , protection is by keeping out of its path.That means minimising outside movement and wearing masks.We need to introspect whether we have discharged our civic duty as good citizens? .As Tagore said this is the time when it is to........Ekla chalo re. lets hope that "this too shall pass.......
Anil, you make an interesting set of points, and raise an interesting set of questions. Some thoughts in response:
1. Blame is an expression of collective frustration about what is happening, but ultimately too much of it is unproductive, and distorts perspectives. It also hardens positions.
2. Social media is - in my opinion - an organising structure. It can create communities like the ones seeking to access ways of getting people medicines, treatment and hospital beds, or plants ideological flags that draw like-minded people into a different kind of community. The most egregious outcome is polarisation. Like you, I’ve withdrawn from most platforms.
3. I think it’s important to draw a distinction between responsibility and accountability. The first is shared, the second cannot be. In the blame game, accountability takes a back seat. It matters, because it’s accountability - which also means answerability - that gives us lessons for the future, both immediate and long-term.
4. We - as individuals and parts of organisations - are held accountable for the decisions we take and duties we are charged with every day. Political leadership is accountable for action or inaction - both of which are decisions - for their duties too.
5. The state of our medical system and infrastructure is a discussion that will stretch the limits of your calculus :) and mine. It warrants a complete and detailed discussion I hope you’ll take up. But this much we know: it’s been neglected for too long, and if we continue to let this happen, this neglect can be classified as wilful.
Let’s hold people - ourselves, politicians, the bureaucracy - accountable.
Brilliantly linked the mass vaccination drive with Aadhar no. Even in the US people are getting slips of paper. But we are getting digital confirmation.
Anil atleast some influential journalist has the guts of going against the flow to highlight the positives especially technology being used to roll out the only counter for Cheene Wuhan Corona Virus. Thanks. Indians have realised very fast the benefits of Aadhar and Direct Transfers of money especially MSP. And the technology revolution we are witnessing. Wow, what an article amidst the gloominess of Wuhan Corona Virus attact.
Thanks Bro.
Anil congratulations to you for your acumen to highlight the silver lining in a crisis. Truly appreciate the way you have highlighted the AADHAR and its emergence as foundation for ushering in projects of macro size for the benefit of the public at large ! Keep it up the cheers during such difficult time!