CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) - JULY 2021
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COVER STORY JULY 2021 CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) Rs. 25
COVER STORY
An Engineered and Manufactured
‘Vaccination Record’
On the evening of 21st June, the airwaves were abuzz and the Modi government’s
pet anchors were hyperventilating on prime-time television over the ‘record free
vaccinations’ of 86 lakhs that were administered on that particular day. Ministers in
the Modi Govt lost no time in announcing the record on their social media handles,
attributing the numbers to the first day of the Centre taking back charge of Covid
vaccinations from the state governments. As night fell and dawn broke, the layers
around the propaganda of ‘record free vaccinations’ started to peel off.
To begin with the ‘record’ itself was hardly a record. In 1997, 12.7 crore (1270 lakhs)
children were given polio vaccine doses in a single day and in 1998, 13.4 crore (1340
lakhs) in a single day. The polio vaccine is an oral one and the covid vaccine has to
be administered through an injection, so both are not perfectly comparable, but there
is still no doubt that the polio vaccinations on such a huge scale were a challenging
achievement recognised around the world. For the Modi Govt to spin 86 lakh Covid
vaccines in one day as “unprecedented” was dishonest and purely a PR stunt.
As data has emerged it has become clear that this ‘record’ was not ‘natural’ but
was engineered and manufactured by the BJP to suit their propaganda. BJP ruled
states purposely went slow on vaccinations leading up to 21st June, hoarding up
vaccinations so they could show a surge of vaccinations on the 21st. India's daily
production of vaccines is just about 25-30 lakh doses per day – so a “record” of nearly
90 lakh doses in one day could only be achieved through deliberate and planned
hoarding and slowdown.
As analysed by the Scroll, in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh, the slowdown started
from 17th June itself. The average number of doses administered per day between
June 13-June 16 was more than five times the average of 40,446 doses delivered
between June 17-June 20. On the 20th of June, a day before the ‘record breaking
day’ only 692 vaccine doses were delivered! On the 22nd of June, i.e one day after
the ‘record day’ only 3957 doses were delivered in MP. Similarly other states like
UP delivered more than 7 lakh doses on the 21st of June but only about 9000 doses
on the previous day. The previous day i.e 20th June was a Sunday, which generally
sees a decrease in the number of doses delivered. But even so the number was 35%
less than average number of doses delivered on previous Sundays. So clearly the
gameplan was to slowdown the number of doses so that there can be a sharp increase
on the 21st of June. Similar trends are also clearly visible in other BJP ruled states
like Gujrat, Karnataka and Assam. A similar surge is not visible in non-BJP ruled
states of Maharashtra and Rajasthan clearly pointing to the manufactured nature of
this so-called record.
Even after the death of millions of people due to the virus and medical negligence
the BJP and the Modi Govt continue to put PR and narrative management before
people’s lives. The conscious slowdown of vaccination to manufacture the record
has meant that many who could have got the vaccine did not get it and thus risk
death or severe illness. Let us not forget that the Modi Government reversed its
vaccination policy after huge protest from the political opposition, the general public
and a scathing order from the Supreme Court. While Covid vaccination is free all over
the world, Indians are still paying sums from Rs 700 to Rs 4000 for Covid vaccines.
The Modi and BJP regimes appear to have learnt little from the devastation the
country had to suffer on account of the second wave and has gone back to their usual
modus operandi of spin, bluster and narrative management to keep Modi’s image
intact even at the cost of putting lives of ordinary Indian at danger.
EDITORIAL
Democracy in Peril
New Series Vol. 27 No. 03
JULY 2021
CONTENTS
ECONOMIC NOTES
G-7 Summit.. ................................. 5
Jobs Take A Deep Dive,
As Prices Soar.................................7
COVER FEATURE
Count Every Death........................ 9
(L to R) Student Activists Natasha Narwal Asif Iqbal Tanha and Devangana Kalita
INTERVIEW after their release from Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Lessons of the Pandemic.............. 14
ARTICLE
he Delhi High Court judgments ordering the release on bail of
Tide Begins to Turn Against Modi. . . 21
INTERNATIONAL ......................... 27
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Adivasis’ Movement in Bastar....... 30
T three of the anti-CAA student activists charged under UAPA
is a long-awaited breath of oxygen. It offers some relief from
the Delhi Police witch-hunt that since last year has been been choking
OBITUARY ..................................34 off democracy’s life-breath: protests against unjust, discriminatory and
fascist laws like the CAA, NRC and NPR have inspired courage and
hope in the struggle for democracy.
Editor-in-chief
Dipankar Bhattacharya The three students released on bail -Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha
Editor Narwal, and Devangana Kalita – boldly asserting their commitment
Arindam Sen
Editorial Board to continuing the struggle against CAA, NRC and NPR. Incarceration
Kavita Krishnan and injustice (and in Natasha’s case the impossibly high cost of losing
V. Shankar
her father to Covid without a chance to bid him goodbye) have failed
Sanjay Sharma
to silence these young fighters.
Editors' e-mail:
liberation@cpiml.org The Delhi HC bail orders have laid bare the utter hollowness of the
Delhi Police’s attempts to equate the anti-CAA protests with a terrorist
Art: V Arun Kumar
conspiracy. Calling it a “sad day for democracy”, the HC points out
Manager that “in its anxiety to suppress dissent and in the morbid fear that
Prabhat Kumar matters may get out of hand, the State has blurred the line between
Phone: 7042877713
the constitutionally guaranteed ‘right to protest’ and ‘terrorist activity’”,
Website: www.cpiml.net
E-mail: manager.liberation@gmail.com thereby placing “democracy in peril.”
36 pages including covers
The Delhi Police is after all merely a pawn of the Modi-Shah regime;
Annual Subscription Rates and the representatives of the regime have reacted to the Delhi
India Rs. 300 HC orders with a loud performance of contempt and outrage. The
Abroad US$ 60 prosecution appealed the bail orders in the Supreme Court, which
while denying a stay on the orders, nevertheless instructed that those
Send M.O. or Bank Draft
orders could not serve as a precedent in other UAPA cases, pending
in favour of
Liberation Publications the SC’s final judgment.
Payable at Delhi to It is unfortunate that the SC, even as an interim measure,
U-90 Shakarpur, Delhi 110 092 acted to contain the impact that the Delhi HC verdict could have
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 3
EDITORIAL
had towards freeing unjustly
incarcerated persons whose very Refusing to be overawed by the smokescreen
lives are at risk in the pandemic.
of “alarming and hyperbolic verbiage”, the
Thanks to this SC order, the
Modi Government, while unable HC has named what is in plain sight: that
to prevent Asif, Natasha and
the factual allegations against the anti-CAA
Devangana from getting bail, has
succeeded at least for the time activists refer merely to protest, and cannot
being in preventing other anti- be termed “terrorism”.
CAA protestors from being able
to benefit from the Delhi HC’s unreasonable bail conditions or what pro-democracy activists
reasoning. costs. It is no coincidence that a have been saying since last year:
However, the Delhi HC verdict disproportionate percentage of that the Delhi Police investigation
has in effect declared that the these undertrials are from Dalit, is blatantly biased, and has spun
“Emperor is naked” – i.e that the adivasi and Muslim communities, a fantastic conspiracy theory
Delhi Police’s UAPA chargesheet and most of the undertrials are to falsely accuse anti-CAA
in the Delhi riot cases have poor. The draconian UAPA, protestors, especially those of the
no substance once they are aided by narrow and regressive minority Muslim community, of the
“shorn of superfluous verbiage interpretation by the Supreme very “riots” (in fact, planned and
and hyperbole”. Refusing to be Court, has compounded such targeted violence) of which they
overawed by the smokescreen systemic injustice, by legally were actually victims. The Delhi
of “alarming and hyperbolic seeking to prevent courts from Police is yet to take any action at
verbiage”, the HC has named examining the merits of the case all against Kapil Mishra, Anurag
what is in plain sight: that the while hearing a bail petition. The Thakur and other BJP and RSS
factual allegations against the UAPA has become a weapon leaders who called upon mobs
anti-CAA activists refer merely by the State to imprison human to shoot and kill protestors, and
to protest, and cannot be termed rights defenders indefinitely, led violent, armed mobs on Delhi
“terrorism”. since police forces and agencies streets.
The High Court vindicates what like NIA stretch out “investigation” While every UAPA prisoner
anti-CAA and farmers’ movement for years, and bail is denied to must get bail in keeping with the
protestors have been saying the accused in the meantime. principles outlined in the Delhi HC
all of las t y ear: th a t i t i s n o t The Delhi HC corrects this, order, that alone will not constitute
a c r im e, let alo n e a c ri m e o f drawing on the precedent of the justice. Justice demands that the
sedition or terrorism - to organise Kerala HC bail in the Najeeb whole Delhi Police investigation
protests against laws enacted case which was upheld by the be scrapped and replaced by
by Parliament, or to call for SC, and reminding courts that it a fresh investigation monitored
“chakkajam” (blockade of roads). is their duty to free the accused by the Delhi HC; that the Delhi
To term protests and acts of on bail to prevent their lengthy Police officers responsible for
civil disobedience as “terrorism” incarceration. It explicitly rejects imprisoning innocents on the
and use the UAPA to indefinitely the suggestion by the Additional basis of a chargesheet that
imprison the protestors, puts Solicitor General that the courts has nothing but “superfluous
democracy in danger. should only offer relief after verbiage”, be punished. Above
waiting till the accused’s “right to
The High Court also rightly all, each of the persons forced by
a speedy trial guaranteed under the Delhi Police’s vindictiveness
defends the right of the accused
Article 21 of the Constitution is and political bias to be in prison
to a s peedy t r i a l . U n d e rtri a l s
fully and completely negated”. in these pandemic times, must be
in India languish for years in
prison because they cannot meet The Delhi HC bail orders vindicate adequately compensated. p
4 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)
ECONOMIC NOTES
Outlining the G7 Summit
Aishik Saha
Yellen to The Chicago Council on flow towards high income countries
T
he G7 Summit, held
between 11th and 13th Global Affairs, emphasized on the where the sales are made whereas
June in Cornwall, UK in the need for a global corporate tax. low income countries, which often
backdrop of the ongoing COVID19 While the initial proposal by the Biden provide labour and raw materials
crisis and the deadly ‘second wave’ administration was for a 21% global might be left behind.
of infections in India. Key issues minimum corporate tax rate, further A remedy has been suggested by
on the agenda were to ensure negotiations have seen the figure Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman
effective and rapid vaccination, slide down to as low as 15%. at the University of California, Berkley
climate change, and an end to tax
While accepting the need for a that proposed to levy a tax of 0.2%
havens. India was invited by the UK
global minimum corporate tax, on publicly listed companies’ stock
along with Australia, South Korea,
Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director market capitalization – the value of
and South Africa to be a part of the
of Oxfam International, pointed out their shares5. Taxes raised could be
summit.
that the 15% rate is far too low and allocated proportionally to the sales
Since its very inception as the comparable to the soft rates charged made in each country, which would
‘Library Group’, the G7 has acted by existing tax havens. She points out include non-G20 countries.
as a consultative body for the that “Billions of dollars in revenues While the effect that a new global
advanced global economies, lost to tax havens each year would tax regime on India isn’t apparent, it is
where their interests could be flow to wealthy countries where unlikely that the Indian economy will
consolidated. Given that many of most of the large multinationals remain unaffected by the changes.
the countries in the current G7 like Amazon and Pfizer are India held an unfavourable stance
have been accused of hoarding headquartered ―regardless if their
vaccines, while many in the Global towards the initial 21% minimum
sales and profits are actually made tax rate, especially since India had
South (particularly India and South
in developing nations. The G7 can’t lowered the corporate taxes on newly
Africa) have been unable to procure
expect the majority of the world’s incorporated companies in 2019
enough for their own populations,
countries to accept crumbs from its to 15%. The general consensus,
the stark differences remained on
table”2. Oxfam lends its support to especially among corporate
issues that needed to be sorted out.
the Independent Commission for the consultants, is that India will benefit
Global Corporate Tax Reform of International Corporate as it has a large market for big tech
The US president Joe Biden has Taxation (ICRICT) demand for a companies. However with increasing
been championing the cause for a global minimum corporate tax of inflation nullifying any improvement
global corporate tax arguing that 25%3. in the purchasing power of Indians
the current system incentivizes Dani Rorik, Professor of and weak economic recovery in
corporations to stash their profits International Political Economy at the aftermath of the pandemic,
in overseas tax havens while Harvard University, pointed out that India could soon lose its sheen as
encouraging a global ‘race to the certain developing economies rely on a market.
bottom’ for corporate tax rates. tax incentives to attract FDI4. Most Preventing Climate Change
This is undeniably true as global of the share of the tax income would
and Future Pandemics
corporate taxes have fallen from a [2] https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/g7-
global average of 49% in 1985 to global-corporate-tax-deal-far-fair-oxfam Another key agenda on the G7
23% in 20191. Most of these earnings [3] https://static1.squarespace.com/ meet was that of Climate Change.
end up stashed in tax havens like static/5a0c602bf43b5594845abb81/t/5ee79 A study by the Swiss Re Institute
Bermuda, the Caymans, Ireland, 779c63e0b7d057437f8/1592235907012/IC demonstrates that in the case
RICT+Global+pandemic+and+international+
the Netherlands, Singapore and of an increase of global annual
taxation.pdf
Switzerland. In a speech by US temperatures between 2-2.6
[4] https://www.project-syndicate.org/
Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. commentary/g7-corporate-tax-agreement- degrees Celsius would result in
[1] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers. end-of-hyper-globalization-by-dani- [5] https://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/
cfm?abstract_id=3655850 rodrik-2021-06 SaezZucman2021EP.pdf
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 5
ECONOMIC NOTES
a shrinking of global economies withholding and stockpiling vaccine of India during the protests against
by more than 11% and the Indian doses that were multiples of their NRC-CAA-NPR and the Kisan
economy shrinking by a quarter6. population, while others like India Andolan cannot be ignored. Neither
One major commitment made was were left out to dry. Though this has the Yogi government’s arrests
on the phasing out of coal powered criticism doesn’t take away any of of healthcare workers for speaking
industries as a major source of the blame that lies with the Indian out about the condition of hospitals
global warming and a shift towards government for exporting millions or even mentioning the crisis caused
‘Green Energy’ sources. The G7 of vaccine doses even as a majority by the second wave of COVID19
committed to spending $2.8 billion of Indians remained unvaccinated. escaped attention.
towards incentivising developing The joint statement released at Even in the aftermath of the G7
countries to transition from the end of the meeting emphasized declaration, the Indian consulate in
fossil fuels into environmentally on the need to establish a Toronto, Canada wrote to a school
sustainable solutions. The target global framework for detection in the city accusing it of spreading
is supposed to limit global warming and identification of emerging hatred for teaching its students
to 1.5 degrees celsius. The 2021 diseases and the swift development about the Kisan Andolan. This
United Nations Climate Change of vaccines. This requires a should speak to the credibility of the
Conference (COP26) to be held shared commitment to scientific G7’s commitment to transparency
later this year in Glasgow is likely progress regardless of geopolitical and freedom of speech, given that
to deliberate on this issue further. contradictions. Canada is a member of the G7.
The idea for a ‘Green Belt and The Commitment to Open The Way Ahead
Road Initiative’ has been pitched, Societies The G7 while raising many of the
with the implicit idea of countering
The G7 emphasized on the issues that are of real concern, have
China’s ‘Belt and Road’ plan for
commitment to ‘open societies’, rarely taken up any concrete steps
massive investments in Central
democratic values and multilateralism. capable of addressing them. Let
Asia, West Asia, Eastern Europe,
Among all the declarations made at us take the example of the issue
Africa and SE Asia 7 . Such an
the G7 summit this one rung the with tax havens, it has come to be
approach however has the potential
hollowest. The United States, has universally understood that the low
to be rendered counterproductive
been plagued by accusations of benchmark 15% lets companies
as it emphasizes on applying a
geopolitical lens to a problem that voter suppression in Republican led that have engaged in stashing
requires a collaborative solution. states with many US lawmakers even profits abroad off the hook. More
currently making various attempts importantly the discussion does not
This confrontational approach was to overturn the popular mandate of address the fact that while capital
seen in the revival of the theory the 2020 US Presidential elections. flow is globalized, there has been
that COVID19 was developed in a The mistreatment of immigrants, the no talk about taking steps towards
Wuhan lab as a potential bioweapon, police violence and disproportionate a ‘globalized labour regime’ that can
an idea first pitched by Donald incarceration of Black and racial put an end to the superprofits earned
Trump which has significantly minority groups in the US found by MNCs. Similarly the talk of the
hampered initiatives to prevent the no mention as the term ‘systemic economic cost of the pandemic or
spread of the virus and strengthens discrimination’ was found in the climate change completely ignores
‘anti-vaxxer’ arguments. declaration. the very real human cost that has
The G7’s commitment to deliver been inflicted on the working class
India’s objection to a blanket
870 million vaccine doses by the people of the world.
critique of internet shutdowns
end of 2022 falls far short of both was also accommodated and the What the G7 demonstrates is that
need and expectation. Many of the there is a real need for a forum
term ‘politically motivated internet
G7 nations have been criticized for for people-to-people discussion
shutdowns’ was introduced in order
[6] https://www.swissre.com/dam/jcr:e73ee7c3- to allow the Indian government regarding the very real problems
7f83-4c17-a2b8-8ef23a8d3312/swiss-re-
institute-expertise-publication-economics-of- a space to weasel itself into the that we face rather than one in
climate-change.pdf; declaration. The crimes of the BJP in which leaders of certain countries
[7] https://www.ft.com/content/f33b43e6-0cea- shutting down all access to internet meet for photo ops and empty
486b-a3cf-628a31c09693 in Kashmir, as well as various parts words.p
6 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)
ECONOMIC NOTES
India’s Economy, Jobs Take A Deep Dive,
As Prices Soar
Aishik Saha
had predicted India’s GDP to grow
at 11.8% in 2021, downgraded
its estimate to 10.2% 2 . Around
the same time, the ratings agency
Moody's revised its forecast for
India's economic growth in the
current financial year downwards to
9.3 percent from an earlier projection
of 13.7 percent. India’s debt burden
relative to its GDP is also expected
to grow. It must be remembered
that India’s GDP contracted by 7.97
percent in 2020, and only showed a
@ Soumi Basu
marginal growth of 4.04% the year
before.
Bank of America Predicts
ata from Centre for centres who were forced to walk 30 lakh job Losses in the
D Monitoring Indian Economy
(CMIE) has pointed out
that unemployment in India has
hundreds, sometimes thousands of
kilometres back to their villages.
The lockdowns imposed in May
Indian IT sector
A recent report by Bank of America
(BofA) Securities revealed that the
risen from 6.5% in March to 13% Indian IT outsourcing companies
2021 were a further blow to an
in June. Urban unemployment could see 30 percent reduction in
already battered economy with
increased to as much as 9.78%.
the CMIE estimating that nearly low-skilled jobs globally by 2022
These figures demonstrate that due to Robotic Process Automation
17 million daily wage labourers
despite the Modi government’s (RPA) upskilling. The report titled
and small traders were forced into
repeated claims to the contrary, Robo Sapiens: Future of Work Primer3
unemployment. A follow up report
the rapid rate of job losses have argues that nearly a third of the current
points out that “there is also a steady
not stopped. The evidence was jobs will be eliminated by automation
fall in the employment independent of
corroborated by a survey released
the lockdowns”1. This indicates the as robots will be 5% more productive
by IHS Markit that demonstrated
general trend of the ‘jobless growth’ and 1% cheaper annually over the
the rapid rate of loss of jobs in key
that has characterized the Modi next decade. What is relevant is that
sectors like manufacturing.
regime, with job losses in the public automation of back-office work means
In March 2020, the government sector and replacement of permanent that nearly one hundred billion dollars
had imposed one of the strictest posts with contractual employment. of ‘salary costs’ will be eliminated. This
lockdowns in the world, claiming The CMIE predicts that nearly one means that many of those employed
that India would be able to defeat third of the jobs eliminated by the in back-office work will be pushed
COVID-19 within the span of three lockdown will not be recovered. further into precarious employment
weeks. This was followed by grand [2] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/
This comes at a time when India’s
declarations by the Finance Minister economy/indicators/oxford-economics-
GDP growth seems to be unable
of robust government spending that lowers-indias-2021-gdp-growth-forecast-
to make expected progress. In to-10-2/articleshow/82259251.cms
would spruce up the economy. At the
April, Oxford Economics, which [3] https://www.bofaml.com/content/dam/
same time we saw the mass exodus
[1] https://unemploymentinindia.cmie.com/ boamlimages/documents/articles/ID21_0696/
of Indian workers from major urban kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=wtabnav&tab=4080 Future_of_Work_primer_Redacted.pdf
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 7
ECONOMIC NOTES
The blame for the current crisis
however lies squarely on the BJP
government, which has failed
to support the most vulnerable
sections of the society during the
pandemic.
An Oxfam report had pointed out
back in January that the wealth of
Indian billionaires had increased
by 35%, an amount which would
be enough to provide the poorest
13 crore Indians with nearly one
lakh rupees each 6. In fact this is a
part of a global trend that has seen
the world add 607 new billionaires
@ Avani
while the vast majority of people
suffered during the crisis 7.
or into the so-called ‘gig economy’. rights and families of employees.
It must be pointed out that an
NASSCOM has however India’s NPA Crisis Worsens RTI in 2017 had revealed that big
contradicted the claims stating “With
India’s Non Profitable Asset (NPA) corporate entities held Rs 9.5 lakh
the evolution of technology and crore in NPAs. An IndiaSpend
crisis seems to be growing deeper as
increasing automation, the nature report also pointed out that top
Indian banks have written off loans
of traditional IT jobs and roles will 12 corporate NPAs cost more
worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore in 2020-
evolve overall leading to creation of
21 to show reduced NPAs on their to the exchequer than farm loan
newer jobs. The Industry continues to waivers, lest anyone be tempted
accounts4. This is deeply troubling as
be a net hirer of skilled talent, adding
Rs 2.54 lakh crores NPA were written to lay blame on the farmers and
138,000 people in FY2021.” small lenders for the current crisis8.
off in the financial year 2019-20,
Essentially, the claim made by which was the highest in the decade. The current crisis is very much the
NASSCOM is that the jobs in the IT What is even more concerning, is result of ‘corporate friendly’ policies
sector are secure because despite that experts have predicted a rise in of the union government that have
the ongoing process of automation, bad loans to 13-15% in the current made them less accountable to
the sector has been a ‘net-hirer’. fiscal year. the public, while benefitting off the
Of course being a net hirer does taxpayer.
Recoveries have taken a
not mean that those currently in It is important that political
significant hit as many micro-
employment will be retained or will pressure is generated so that
finance institutions have been
have equal levels of job security.
sharply been hit by the economic any fresh write-off must be done
There is no clarity regarding the
crisis that has accompanied the in consultation with the vast
process of reskilling and most of
COVID19 pandemic and the majority of Indians, who have
those employed in the jobs that are
subsequent lockdowns. Tourism, been adversely affected by the
at the highest risk of being automated
hospitality, restaurants, salons, process and must bear the burden
have no job security to speak of.
aviation, construction, textiles and of the irresponsible risks taken by
The report however has sparked high-contact services are among corporates. p
concern with the Pune based Nascent the worst-affected segments 5 . [6] https://www.oxfamindia.org/press-release/
Information Technology Employees [4] https://www.newindianexpress.com/ inequality-virus-india-supplement-2021
Senate (NITES), an organisation business/2021/jun/13/rs153-lakh-crore-bad- [7] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/
working to protect interests of loan-write-off-gives-a-facelift-to-banks-npa- india-adds-40-billionaires-in-pandemic-year-
profile-2315595.html adani-ambani-see-rise-in-wealth-report/
IT employees, appealing to the article33970268.ece
[5] https://indianexpress.com/article/business/
Maharashtra government to establish
banking-and-finance/experts-see-new-surge- [8] https://www.indiaspend.com/top-12-
an independent board for the IT / in-bad-loans-could-rise-to-13-15-per-cent- corporate-npas-cost-exchequer-twice-as-
ITES sector to protect the welfare, this-fy-7360806/ much-as-farm-loan-waivers/
8 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)
COVER FEATURE
Count Every Death
and name the killers. If we shut Excess Deaths
I
n 2019-20, India was haunted
by the spectre of the NRC – a out eyes and silence our voices
All over the world, undercounting
national register of citizens on the millions of Indians who died
is a phenomenon and actual Covid
that Prime Minister Modi and gasping for oxygen, we are only
death tolls are being calculated by
his Home Minister Shah had paving the way for our own deaths
comparing the number of deaths
promised. Modi and Shah had and deaths of millions more.
in a given period this year, with
claimed that this exercise of
The bland and comforting the number of deaths in the same
forcing every Indian to “prove”
Covid-19 death tolls being period in 2018 and 2019. The
citizenship to the government,
announced by states all over India, difference - called “excess deaths”
through legacy documents.
and by the Central government, – gives a fair idea of the actual scale
But now, reeling in the wake of are belied by the horrific images of Covid deaths.
a deadly Covid-19 second wave, of dead bodies washing up
But India is among the worst in the
Indians are in a situation where it downstream of the Ganga river;
world when it comes to deliberately
is the dead, not the living, who are bodies buried in makeshift graves
and shamelessly undercounting
not being counted as citizens by on river banks; videos of people
deaths.
the government, which is seeking throwing a body into a river from
to undercount Covid deaths to a bridge; funeral pyres spilling out In India, the actual number of
play down the scale of the disaster onto parking lots and streets; and deaths can be calculated by looking
created by it. metal frames of the crematorium at the Civil Registration System
furnaces melting as they were - a nationwide record of all births
The BJP’s parent organisation
forced to burn round-the-clock and deaths headed by the Office of
the RSS Propagandists for the
without respite; not to mention the the Registrar General of India and
government are trying to tell us
frantic cries of family members implemented by state governments.
it is time to “move on” with the
begging for oxygen and hospitals Even in normal times, states usually
business of living. But to fight for
shutting doors because they ran register less than 80% of the actual
life, we must look death in the face
out of oxygen. number of deaths – still, the Civil
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 9
COVER FEATURE
Registration Numbers are the from the state's Civil Registration Covid-19 death toll.
closest we have to an accurate System, showing a difference of The news website Article-14
record of deaths in India. about 82,500. More than half of this obtained mortality data under the
Based on these calculations, 62 per cent increase was reported RTI Act for Uttar Pradesh – the
journalists found the following: in May this year. However, Bihar's state where you can be arrested for
official Covid death fatalities figure reporting oxygen shortage, Covid
In Madhya Pradesh, in May
for January-May 2021 was 7,717. deaths, or bodies in the Ganga.
2021, the death toll was five times
Yet, the overall number of official It found that “Excess deaths in
more than what has been normal
Covid deaths in the state is only UP districts with highest official
in this month in previous years. In
a fraction of the excess deaths caseload were between 10 to 335
addition to cities, rural districts like
recorded by its Civil Registration times higher than the government’s
Chhindwara also reported a much
System -- a difference of 74,808 to Covid-19 death toll over nine
higher number of deaths than usual.
be precise.” months to 31 March 2021.” And
Rukmini S, writing for the Scroll, this is the period covering the first
So the actual number of deaths in
found that “In May 2018 and 2019, wave and the very beginning of
the second wave period is ten times
Madhya Pradesh saw a little over the second wave – minus the peak
the official Covid death toll admitted
31,000 deaths over the month on months of the second wave, April
average. However in May 2021, to by the Bihar Government.
and May 2021.
Madhya Pradesh saw over 1.6 Andhra Pradesh reported over
Article-14 reported:
lakh reported deaths, or nearly five 130,000 deaths in May 2021, or
times the usual number of reported nearly five times the usual number Here are data for six districts,
deaths. In all, Madhya Pradesh saw of deaths reported in the month. disaggregated:
more than twice as many deaths • Balia, close to Ghazipur,
between January 1 to May 31 this registered 7,300 excess deaths,
year compared to the 2018-’19 about 120% more than the same
average.” period in 2019-20 and 68 times
She also noted, “Officially, Madhya higher than the official Covid-19
Pradesh reported just 4,461 Covid death toll of 107.
deaths between January 1 and • Unnao registered over 10,400
May 31, 2021. The excess deaths excess deaths, about 134% more
seen in the same period are 42 than 2019-20, and 117 times more
times the reported Covid death than the official death toll of 90.
toll.” These excess deaths may
not all be Covid deaths – they • Kanpur Dehat (rural) registered
could also be many deaths due to 4,040 excess deaths, 236% more
The excess deaths between than 2019-20, and 106 times more
the “disruptions of routine health
services” in this period, as a result January to May 2021 was 34 than the official toll of 38.
of which persons with heart, kidney times the official Covid-19 toll. • In Amethi, about 13,000 more
and other diseases could not access Arunabh Saikia writing for the people had died than normal, more
lifesaving medical care. Scroll, found that in the first few than 1700% than 2019-20. The
She ended by warning that “The months of the Covid-19 first wave, official death toll was 39, or 335
final numbers for MP are likely to “Assam saw 28,000 more deaths times less.
be even higher, as deaths are often than normal, and the excess deaths • Lucknow district, which hosts
registered with a significant lag.” were 30 times the official Covid-19 the state capital, registered over
death count.” 30,200 excess deaths, 524% more
The Bihar story is even more
stark. Aruveettil Mariyam Alavi In Tamil Nadu where the situation than 2019-20 and 25 times more
than the official death toll of 1,211.
wrote for NDTV, “About 1.3 lakh is considerably better, the excess
deaths were reported in Bihar in deaths amount to four times the • Bareilly registered 12,000
January-May 2019. The figure for official Covid-19 death toll. In excess deaths, 72% more than
the same time period in 2021 was Karnataka the excess deaths 2019-20and 73 times more than
almost 2.2 lakh, according to data amount to six times the official the official death toll of 166. During
10 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)COVER FEATURE
the second wave, Union Minister 103% more than 2019-20 and 56 dissuaded from asking inconvenient
Santosh Gangwar, the BJP MP from times more than the official death questions. Vipan Mittal, an LIC
Bareilly, wrote a letter to Adityanath, toll of 178. agent from Faridkot, received an
expressing “grave concern” over the SMS saying that he had tested
Apart from the 24 districts, most
State’s pandemic mismanagement. other districts registered deaths negative for COVID-19, but he had
• Agra district, where on 12 May 20% to 150% in excess of 2019- not taken any test! "My COVID-19
2021 Article 14, anecdotally, found 20 and between five to 100 times report said I was negative, but I
vast underreporting, registered higher than the official Covid-19 hadn’t taken the test. I went to
around 10,000 excess deaths, death toll. p local district authorities, but I was
told to go away. Health department
So How Many Indians officials were also not interested
in finding out what was going on.
Actually Fell to the Covid-19
As a last resort, I filed an email
complaint with the Indian Council
Second Wave?
of Medical Research (ICMR),”
Mittal told a newspaper. ICMR
promised to investigate but did not
he New York Times notes
T
the then Uttarakhand chief minister
get back to him. He then filed a
that as of May 24, India’s Trivendra Singh Rawat insisted
query under the Right to Information
official second wave Covid that only a restricted, symbolic
(RTI) Act – seeking details of a lab
death toll was 307, 231. But NYT, Kumbh Mela would be held. The
that had conducted his test. The
with the help of a range of experts, BJP fired him and replaced him
reply informed him that his swab
said that even a conservative with the current CM Tirath Singh
had been collected and tested in
estimate amounts to 6 lakh deaths. Rawat who held a full-scale Kumbh.
Haridwar – where the Kumbh was
A more likely scenario, according to Tirath Singh Rawat brushed off
being held. The probe that resulted
the NYT calculation, would be 16 Covid concerns and comparisons
revealed that Mittal’s was one
lakh deaths. A worse but entirely with the much smaller Tablighi
among one lakh Covid tests forged
possible scenario according to NYT Jamaat gathering in Delhi in 2020
by a single lab.
is 42 lakh deaths. which the BJP had demonised as
a Muslim ‘superspreader’ event. The official positivity rate also had
The Indian Government has of
course tried to pooh-pooh these He declared that Covid-19 would clearly indicated a scam but the
not harm true Hindu devotees, Uttarakhand administration had
calculations. But it is worth noting
and so no Hindu gathering no turned a blind eye to it. Haridwar’s
that data analysed by NDTV had
matter how huge, could ever be a positivity rate during the Maha
shown there were at least 4.8
lakh unexplained excess deaths in ‘superspreader’. The implied threat Kumbh was 80% less than the rest
just five states: Madhya Pradesh, was that anyone questioning the of state. This clearly meant that
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kumbh would be branded “anti- test results were either faked or
Karnataka, and Delhi. If just five Hindu”, which in BJP’s vocabulary, suppressed.
states accounted for nearly 5 lakh is “anti-Indian.” He also boasted of This is no ordinary scam – it is
deaths, is it really a stretch to the Covid safety arrangements at a scam made possible by Hindu-
accept that India’s 28 states and 8 the Kumbh, including Covid testing supremacist and Islamophobic
Union territories might account for of the devotees. PM Modi also regimes in Uttarakhand and the
42 lakh deaths? issued full-page advertisements in Centre, and the equally Hindu-
papers assuring devotees that the
Kumbh Mela Testing Scam Maha Kumbh was “clean” and “safe”
supremacist and Islamophobic
Killed People and encouraging them to attend.
Indian media that baselessly
demonised the small Tablighi
We cannot forget that the Kumbh Now we know that Covid test Jamaat gathering, while refusing to
Mela at Hardwar was advanced results at the Kumbh were ask questions about the decision to
by one year and held in April 2021 fabricated. This scam came to host the Kumbh Mela in the middle
instead of 2022 when it was actually light thanks to the efforts of an of the second wave that had already
due to be held. ordinary citizen who did his job of begun building up in February-
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic being stubborn and refusing to be March. This scam literally helped
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 11COVER FEATURE
Covid-19 to kill lakhs. back with countless devotees D’ Rozario, Yogendra Yadav,
A whopping 90 lakh devotees and found its way to poor rural Agriculture Economist Dr. T. N.
attended the Kumbh Mela – and communities where access to Prakash Kammardi, Shilpaa Anand,
then returned, falling sick and healthcare and testing was limited faculty member at BITS-Pilani; and
spreading the sickness as they or absent, with often devastating organisations like All India Central
returned to homes in villages and consequences. “Pilgrims from all Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU);
cities all over India. states carried variant viruses and Stree Jagruti, Grameena Kooli
seeded epidemics,” said T Jacob Karmikara Sanghatane; Gamana
Whereas the Tablighi Jamaat Mahila Samuha; Karnataka
John, a former director of virology
attendees were carefully tracked, Mahila Dourjanya Virodhi Vedika;
tested, and quarantined, no effort at the Indian Council of Medical
Research. In the aftermath, Ashish Environment Support Group; and
was made to do the same for the Slum Janandolana.
Kumbh devotees. Hindu devotees’ Jha, dean of the School of Public
lives were treated as dispensable Health at Brown University, said The appeal says: “Governments
by the Hindu-supremacist BJP. Yet the Kumbh Mela was possibly “the do not want to count the dead or
the BJP vice-president, Baijayant biggest superspreader event in the even admit they have died. They
Panda, said that anyone who called history of the pandemic”. are even removing the shrouds
the Kumbh Mela a superspreader from the riverside graves so that
BJP leader Thakur Puran Singh
event had a “hinduphobic” agenda. the world may not be able to count
from Rajouri (Kashmir) contracted
our dead. By refusing to count
Here is the Guardian Covid-19 at the Kumbh which he them, they are seeking to forget our
newspaper’s report on the attended with his family. He died of precious loved ones. But we cannot
Kumbh’s superspreader effect: it, as did his brother, but his family let our loved ones be forgotten:
“Accounts gathered by the members hid the fact that they had each has a name, each must be
Guardian from the states of attended the Kumbh, and went on remembered, each must continue
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, to attend 4 weddings. As a result, to be loved.”
Bihar, Kashmir and Karnataka they spread Covid-19 to at least 24
Richa Chadda said to a newspaper,
indicate that the virus travelled people.p
“A lot of people are numb or gutted
A Campaign To Remember
right now. It will take a long time to
heal. People aren’t just statistics:
Covid Victims
they are colleagues, papas, betis
(daughters), dadis (grandmas),
classmates and wives.” Jwala
A
number of artists, writers, Krishna, Moushumi Bhowmik and
Gutta added, “We cannot exist as
and activists initiated a Rupam Islam, artist Shuddhabrata
a society without (remembering)
campaign to ‘Count Every Sengupta, Assam MP Ajit Bhuyan,
those who lost their lives, like the
Death’, commemorate Covid victims Gujarat MLAs Chhotubhai Vasava
workers who died on the roads. I
and amplify the voices of family and Jignesh Mevani, Bihar MLAs
shall be surprised if no human feels
members who lost loved ones. Manoj Manzil and Mahboob Alam,
for these people.”
Among the hundreds who have Jharkhand MLA Vinod Singh,
former navy chief Admiral Ramdas, TM Krishna told the paper, “Are
endorsed this call include a
writers and academics Sumit and these Covid deaths? These are
cross section of activists, artists,
Tanika Sarkar, Shiv Vishwanathan, deaths caused by an uncaring
retired government officials,
V. Geetha, S.V. Rajadurai, government. The migrant workers
actors, media representatives,
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Samim dying is a classic example, and
academics and organisations
Ahmed, Du Saraswati, Rajendra people dying for lack of oxygen.”
from across the country and
state. They include former IAS Chenni and Rahamath Tarikere, NFIW leader Annie Raja said
officer Sashikanth Senthil, actors senior advocate Indira Jaising, that women from many states
Parambrata Chatterjee, Chethan Kannada filmmakers Giriraj and B. had joined the campaign and
“Ahimsa” Kumar, Prakash Raj Suresh, activists Kavita Krishnan, collectively mourned the Covid and
and Richa Chadha, badminton Annie Raja, Bela Bhatia, Medha lockdown victims, and demanded
player Jwala Gutta, singers T.M. Patkar, Shabnam Hashmi, Clifton accountability from the government,
12 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)COVER FEATURE
to ensure that such killings are not
repeated.
'Mahasweta Samajdar, Editor
'Bhraman' magazine, read a Bengali
poem by Birendra Chattopadhyay.
Kavita Krishnan read a poem
by Diksha Bijlani, in the original
English, and also translated by her
into Hindi, titled “When living is
political, can death be apolitical?’
In Karnataka, many workers and
activists joined the campaign and
spoke on a Zoom call about their ASHA workers taking part in Count Every Death Campaign
experiences of loss. Activist and
artiste D Saraswati said they would and oxygen. meetings at PHCs and Sadar
document all the people who died Hospitals on 15 June to honour the
Shivalinge Gowda, an activist
due to lack of oxygen, hospital memory of ASHA workers who died
admission, medicine or food. “We from Chamarajanagar, blamed the
during the Covid pandemic period.
are here to establish our bonds by bureaucracy for the death of 36
Despite pouring rain, hundreds of
remembering all those as ours. We people there due to lack of oxygen
memorial meetings were organized
will gather every Sunday and try to in the Chamarajanagar hospital. He
across the State. Large numbers
ensure these are not just numbers said the government acknowledged
of people remembered their loved
but living and breathing people.” only 24 of these deaths.
ones by offering floral tribute at
Narayanamma, a pourakarmika Many Indians living in other the portraits of deceased ASHA
(municipality sanitation worker), countries (Singapore, Australia, workers.
UK, USA) also joined the campaign.
inaugurated the event by lighting AICCTU-affiliated Uttarakhand
a candle. She said her friend and The All India ASHA Workers ASHA Health Workers Union
colleague Susheelamma died in Coordination Committee joined activists organized a memorial
hospital after developing breathing the 'Remember loved ones, Count meetings and paid tribute to all
problems: “We don’t know whether every death, Share every sorrow' the deceased ASHA workers by
she got oxygen. Maybe she would campaign, saying that a large lighting candles, holding posters
have lived had she got oxygen. We number of ASHA workers heroically and placards, and observing a
want a Rs 30 lakh compensation battling Corona on the frontlines minute's silence.
for her family. We demand that a died but governments are shirking ASHA Health Workers Union
member of her family be given a their responsibility of giving them State General Secretary Dr Kailash
job by the government.” dignity and respect and providing Pandey said that the government
Shouri Raj, who heads an social security to their bereft says ASHAs are Corona Warriors,
association of crematorium workers families. The governments do but gives them no facilities. They
in the city, said they had been not even have statistics related had to bear their own medical costs
working from 6 am to nightfall every to ASHA deaths, and is hiding and were not paid the Rs 50 lakhs
day and would continue to do so. whatever figures they do have. The compensation announced by the
“I have seen so much pain that it ASHA workers, paying tribute to government. Their Corona period
made me cry. The words of people their sisters who died, demanded Rs honorarium is also not being paid
who bring the bodies still weighs 10,000 monthly Corona allowance timely.
on my mind.” and health insurance of Rs 10 lakhs
Delhi Asha Kamgar Union and
for all ASHA workers.
Poet Sharifa K read out a poem AICCTU activists visited the home
that questioned the need for In response to the call given by of an Asha worker in Mustafabad,
constructing the Central Vista at the All India ASHA Coordination Norrma, who died after being
a cost of Rs 20,000 crore when Committee, the Bihar State ASHA infected with Covid on duty. Her
people are not able to pay for beds Workers Sangh organized memorial husband is a factory worker. He
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 13INTERVIEW
said his wife died due to oxygen when they themselves fall ill, the miss their mother who used to help
shortage. "ASHA workers go government does nothing to help them study, used to cook meals for
house to house on behalf of the them." Noorma's daughter, a Class
government to care for everyone's IX student, and her two younger them. "I don't know how to cook,
health, for public health. But brothers speaking about how they how will we manage", she said. p
CPIML’s Covid-death Surveys in Bihar
The CPIML is conducting a - 367 people died between. agreeing to seek compensation.
painstaking door-to-door survey of
- Only 20 of these had been tested In Danwar Bihta village (Karakat
deaths that took place in villages
for Covid, though the majority block, Rohtas) alone, 31 people
between 1 April-May 31. This
of them had "cold-cough-fever-
survey is being accompanied by died between 1 April and 31 May,
breathlessness" symptoms.
village-level memorial meetings for all with symptoms of cold-cough-
the Covid victims. These meeting - Most could not go to hospitals: fever-breathlessness.
are helping to break the stigma the reasons included fear, stigma,
surrounding Covid deaths. The distance and expense of travel to This survey will continue and be
survey is still ongoing but here are a hospital accompanied by a “Healthy Bihar”
some initial takeaways. - it is only on being approached by campaign in the first two weeks of
In 14 panchayats of Tarari block, AISA, RYA, AIPWA comrades that July. Liberation will carry a detailed
rural Bihar: they are speaking of the deaths, and report of the survey.p
Lessons of the Pandemic:
Jobs, Wages, Housing, Food Security Are
Public Health Issues
(Interview with AICCTU National [symptomatic relief] approach: the fault nor their parents’. We need
Secretary and CPIML Karnataka Right to Food Campaign, I mean, living wages for the people and
Secretary Clifton D’Rozario, because the courts are never going more equitable resources.
who is also an advocate who to address the reasons for chronic
What did the events of the
has consistently argued Covid-19 poverty. You get the national food
last year reveal about our food
and lockdown relief cases in the security scheme or meals arranged
security policy?
Karnataka High Court. The interview through anganwadis but none of
is reproduced with gratitude from that is enough. When you put the entire country
The Third Eye, 18 June 2021) into a lockdown with a four-hour
You have to address the reason
notice, what does that even mean?
Can we talk about the Right to why I don’t have food on my plate
You can’t say you don’t know. You
Food campaign and the issue of today. It’s not because I am lazy.
just don’t care that the majority of
food security as part of public It’s because I have no work. Or I
the country will not have food to
health? have work and I work so hard but I
eat the next day. Then it took more
The Right to Food campaign is don’t get paid commensurate with
than 10 days for the government to
the basic acknowledgement of the the work. I don’t have job or social
come up with the Pradhan Mantri
malnutrition and hunger that exist security. If I fall ill, I have to pay
Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Five
in India. It made the courts take through my nose.
kgs of rice and two kg of chana for
cognizance of continuing hunger. If malnutrition is so rampant in our two months. That policy decision
I have my differences with that country, it’s neither the children’s was so disrespectful and lacked an
14 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)INTERVIEW
@ Jyotsana Singh/ thethirdeyeportal.in
understanding of ground realities. When I was recently arguing the people who are being threatened
When you took away their right matter in Karnataka High Court with eviction.
to earn, they did not have cash in [concerning the management of the
Or look at loans. Forget about
hand. They had no cooking gas. Covid-19 pandemic in the state], I
banks. Let’s look at self-help
They could not buy oil or masalas. said you can't make people stand
groups. Last year, from our party,
These are things that people buy in the queue every day for a meal.
we ran this very big karza maafi
on a weekly basis. Anyone who It's disrespectful of people; you
campaign after the lockdown. We
has lived in a daily wage household are undermining their dignity. You
were specifically targeting the
would know this. By giving just rice have brought down the lockdown
microfinance institutions, because
and chana, you think you are doing on these people who work hard
[the terms] are insane. You take a
something great. every single day. You have taken
loan from a self-help group, if you
Cut to this year. Take Karnataka. away this ability from them and
don’t even pay one instalment, ten
We are almost now three weeks into now you expect them to stand in
women will land up outside your
the lockdown. When the lockdown a damn queue every single day to
house to ask you what the hell is
was declared, the state government beg for food.
happening, you better pay right
had absolutely no policy for meeting Or look at the right to shelter. now. Basically this maana-maryade
food security needs. Instead, People don’t have money to pay [status and honour] thing that’s
what it has said now is that Indira their rent. Last year the central what they play on. Look at the
Canteen food packages will be will government issued an advisory cumulative impact from last year’s
be distributed to the poor three that landlords should not receive lockdown. Look at the Centre for
times a day. And in rural areas, rent for the lockdown period or Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)
gram panchayats will distribute food take a delayed payment. That of report and you see the massive
packets to those who need it. You course was not implemented. This the job loss, rising unemployment
expect the working class to stand year there wasn’t even that facade. rate, dipping wages. But there is no
in queues every single day, three Lockdowns have been declared protection of the working class from
times a day. From a policy point of in state after state and there is loan sharks or from a microfinance
view what has the state government no protection of right to shelter. institution, nothing. It’s very difficult
learned from last year? Zilch. Already you’re hearing stories of to find any kind of policy statements
LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML) | JULY 2021 | 15INTERVIEW
or scientific thinking. had to move the court to make that background to the foreground
happen. because of the pandemic?
Your position is that it’s not
possible to fix public health If you think about public health as Given the crisis mode most
even in the short term without a larger concept, beyond where we people are in and that we cannot
looking at food security, shelter, are currently in the pandemic, has have agitations at this point, these
financial exposure and other there ever been an attempt to make debates have not become a public
factors. When you were arguing it a reality and think it through in discourse. And knowing the middle
in High Court recently what were terms of policy? class, they could well go back to
your recommendations to the [If you look at the pandemic] the
where they were. Right now, they
Karnataka government? Kerala model, of course, is a decent
are more than happy going to their
private hospitals and trying to get
What we have suggested to one. Their numbers are very, very
vaccinated.
the state was cash assistance high, but the deaths are very low.
to be given to families to help That indicates that at least access Still, there is definitely an attempt
them get through these times. We to health is being taken care of over to talk about the amount of money
recommended free rations by which there. I’ve not heard a single report that is spent on public health
we mean free ration kits — you of somebody dying because they infrastructure. If you look at the state
know, rice, dal, masala, cooking didn’t have oxygen or didn’t have of the public health institutions, it’s
oil, cooking gas, whatever fuel that a bed. The moment they declared not the same across the country.
they’re using, all of those things. a lockdown, they declared a food In some states [they’re] better and
pack ration kit package for every in some places they are absolutely
We asked that an order be passed
household. That’s a very respectful crumbling. Without a doubt [the
under the Disaster Management
way of treating people. There are system] needs an upgrade.
Act, prohibiting the eviction of any
some indicators of an urban model Two, the manner in which oxygen
people from their houses for non-
in Mumbai’s triage system. Those
payment of rent. We asked for a supply and when drugs like
are elements that seemed to have Tocilizumab and Remdesivir have
waiver of all electricity and water
worked right now. been totally centralised. The central
bills and a moratorium on all loans
on the repayment of any loans to Given the way Covid is spreading government now decides which
microfinance institutions, private to the rural areas, if Uttar Pradesh state gets how much. Even in the
lenders, and of course, nationalised is anything to go by, there are case of vaccination, everything is
banks. dire consequences of being not decided by the central government
prepared. Every single gram which has basically made a for-
We also asked that under the
panchayat must have a Covid profit model. In a federal structure
National Food Security Act, via the
centre. You cannot expect people like ours, that is worrisome. The
anganwadis, the government meet
to self-quarantine in their houses, pandemic has only revealed the
the nutritional needs of children
given the poverty and very small assault on federalism, the rights
below the age of six, pregnant
houses. To ensure quarantine can of state governments to take
women, lactating mothers, and
take place, to ensure that testing decisions. The demarcation of
adolescent girls [and these] should
can take place, villages must have responsibilities and duties has
be delivered to their doorstep. And
Covid centres, and at least basic become very muddled. That is
also midday meals for school going
supply of oxygen and medicines. something that will have to be
children. You might ask why do
In case of an escalation, people in sorted out as quickly as possible.
we need to recommend it, isn’t it a
a village know they can go to the
statutory order? But they didn’t do The third thing is our understanding
Covid centre and there will be one
it last year. Midday meals were not of who works in public health. ASHA
doctor, ASHA workers and ANM
given in Karnataka to school going workers and sanitation workers
workers who can ensure that this
children because the schools were are part and parcel of the public
person is taken to a hospital. That’s
closed. The order was that they health system. Sanitation workers
the most basic thing that needs to
would give the children equivalent are called frontline workers. ASHA
be done.
grain, which they can cook in their workers are called healthcare
houses. Our government didn’t do Have any important public workers. They're the forefront of
[this] for several months. So we health debates shifted from the this battle against this pandemic,
16 | JUNLY 2021 | LIBERATION - CENTRAL ORGAN OF CPI(ML)You can also read
