DailyPost 1646
THE COVID-19 IMBROGLIO
Can enforcement be the way out? If has often been said that lockdown is not an answer. Maybe it is not. But what does that mean? We remain cross legged, while attending to our daily chores and paying homilies to a precarious situation, which is certainly of our creation. Self-regulation and self-discipline we have never been known for, from traffic to media to tax payment, expecting this from the Indian population is demanding for the moon. We are even ready to face impending disaster, while we keep on doing something foolhardy. Where is all this taught; in schools, colleges or in homes or in our community? Non-compliance has become the norm. The tourist crowd in Goa for last so many months is a clear reminder of the nature of perversion we have got into.
Taking a step further, people who have been infected and their families are also getting in this foolhardy behavior, no human rationale can be found in it. Even in families losing a member to this disease, they take it as a nightmare and get into reckless behavior. At the subliminal level we have lost the sense of the connection between the methods of prevention and the likelihood of getting infected by the COVID-19. What comes in between the knowledge of the danger and not acting accordingly, is this great human trait, which is found all over. Can we allow this risk?
This has the potential to throw the country and the economy out of gear. What it means is not hidden to anybody. This brings us to another element of Indian administration, either ban or lockdown or any such variant or request beg and plead. In the situation we are in, till the time the current COVID-19 situation is sorted out, either of the above is not a viable solution. So, the only way out is to go to the drawing boat, work out a strategy to the minutest detail and come back and implement on the ground. Details notwithstanding, in the public spaces across the country there should not be anybody who does not wear a mask perfectly, maintain social distancing and use sanitizer kiosks liberally installed all across public areas. It has to be enforced like martial law.
Where these things cannot be done as per official admission, such venues / locations should be closed till the time the conditions are met with. Getting vaccinated in today’s situation is certainly a more pious act than casting your vote. People have the right to have different opinions. It has to be a compulsory drive, as nobody has the right to put the whole community at risk. Nobody in this scenario has the right to have an opinion on the efficacy of the vaccine, when it is impacting way beyond his existence. Getting vaccinated should be made a mandated fundamental duty. Conversely, you are a spreader. If somebody decides on the contrary, no govt. benefits would be made available to him. His existence should be declared against medical advice. This should become the law of the land, we have a vast plethora of laws, sometimes not delivering anything.
COVID-19 SOLUTIONS ARE KNOWN, IT HAS TO BECOME THE GROUND RULE.