India still not fully geared up to fight Covid 19, says former NDRF chief
NEW DELHI: Former director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Sanjay Kumar has given thumbs down to Narendra Modi government’s covid-19 containment strategy, saying India was still not fully ready to effectively deal with the pandemic.
Kumar, a 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said the Union government has not just failed to give a timely response to the outbreak of the pandemic with “a definite strategy” but also could not utilize the expertise and potential of the well-trained and well-equipped NDRF to deal with the crisis.
He noted that the Union government swung into action after 45 days of the first case of Covid 19 reported in India and enforced a nationwide lockdown all of a sudden taking cue from some of the western countries when the pandemic had already engulfed almost entire country.
The government while taking a decision to enforce lockdown starting with ‘Janata Curfew’ call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have “customized the western model of lockdown” for Indian conditions, he suggested.
“Our energies must have been focused on organising a purposeful battle against the virus and the disease caused by it,” Kumar, who remained at the helm affairs at the NDRF till December 2018, told the Newstrack24X7.com in an exclusive interview.
By any standard, it can easily be construed as a case of lost opportunity. People of the country are paying a heavy price for the fault of government. Some timely steps on the part of related agencies could have made significant differences, he said
“I would reiterate that we are still not fully geared up to cope with the gigantic and formidable situation like this. We must be clear about our priorities and focus to accomplish the cherished objectives at the earliest at the minimum possible cost,” Kumar insisted
However, the government’s “priorities or constraints” are still unclear, he lamented.
Kumar also pointed out that the way the lock down was enforced, the entire police machinery and local administration today stands in the dock.
“This could not simply be called professional policing,” he noted, recalling the
“By encouraging the police to let loose to enforce the provisions of the Disaster Management Act to keep people confined to their shelters, if they had any, under the humanitarian crisis, brought only disgrace for the already demoralized police force of the nation,” he said.
This could have been easily avoided, had the measures been implemented in a humane way under the Incident Response System (IRS), envisaged for the purpose, he added.
The former NDRF chief noted that most of the State governments also failed to comprehend the implementation of the provisions of the DM Act-2005 and the Epidemic Diseases Act 1887. They interpreted the laws in the way they suited them.
He expressed dismay over an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that the world witnessed in India when lakhs of migrant workers began returning to their home on foot amid nationwide lockdown
“Most of these laborers are landless/homeless and their return would put more pressure on already crumbling resources and infrastructures in rural regions.
If this situation is not addressed immediately, this could well turn into a battle between haves and have-nots,” he warned.
The state governments must take it seriously that the humanitarian crisis could give rise to a new law and order problem, he added.
“If the government had resorted to the IRS, most of these problems would have been addressed and avoided, needless to say that the lock down would also have served its purpose in a much more meaningful way,” he added.
“Most of these laborers are landless/homeless and their return would put more pressure on already crumbling resources and infrastructures in rural regions.