News Analysis India

Tag: Covid pandemic

  • India achieved 99 per cent coverage of DPT3 vaccine in 2021 amid COVID pandemic: WHO

    The country #39;s childhood immunisation programme, Dr Singh said India has also expanded the use of Pneumococcal vaccine despite the ongoing pandemic.

  • Covid pandemic exposed chinks in political system: P Chidambaram

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Former Union Finance minister P Chidambram on Friday said the coronavirus pandemic has exposed gaping loopholes in the political system, charging that in a corroded diminished democracy, rulers find diverse ways to evade responsibility.

    He said the pandemic may be contained by universal vaccination or the disease may be cured by discovery of medicines but the question is “Did Indian democracy rise to the challenge of the pandemic and protect the lives, livelihood and well-being of its people, especially the poor and children”.

    Take part in a seminar on “Global Pandemic and Challenges Before the Democracy” in the Rajasthan Assembly, the Rajya Sabha MP said every political system boasts that it is the best suited to address the needs of people.

    “What the pandemic has done is to expose the gaping loopholes in the boasts. In a true parliamentary democracy system, the prime minister is responsible every day to the Parliament and to the people. However, in a corroded diminished democracy, the rulers will find diverse ways to evade accountability,” he said.

    He said faced with any adversity, the weaknesses would have been exposed in due course but the pandemic has exposed these brutally with no scope of excuses or cover-up.

    The Congress leader further said the rule of law requires multiple institutional support and when government institutions fail and bend before the executive or collaborate with rulers, they aid the executive to subvert the rule of law.

    When this happens, energies of the rulers will be focused on self-preservation and not fighting the pandemic, he said.

    The Rajya Sabha MP said it is a challenge to make the legislative branch work to mitigate the sufferings of people.

    He said challenges to the democracy are not at the national level alone.

    The pandemic has thrown an unusual phenomenon of vaccine nationalism, he stressed.

    “What I make is mine, what I can afford to buy is mine is vaccine nationalism,” he said.

    He said countries are not allowing use of other vaccines in order to promote their vaccine.

    Vaccine nationalism has thrown a spanner in the wheel of global cooperation in fight against the pandemic, he said.

    Chidambaram highlighted seven challenges, including perils of centralisation in not placing orders for vaccines, design and execution of vaccination programme, resources and allocation thereof, widening of disparity among people.

    He said the elimination of poverty and reducing inequalities are accepted goals among democratic countries.

    According to a study, 23 crore people were pushed to poverty in last two years, he said.

    “The deprivation of school education has been the most devastating impact of the pandemic.

    Indian democratic governments at the Centre and the states have found no answer to this catastrophe and stand by as helpless spectator,” he added.

    Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly CP Joshi also presented their views.

  • Plea in SC seeks constitution of 3-tier committee to ensure dignified disposal of bodies

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre and other authorities to form a committee to ensure dignified disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims while referring to recent reports of floating corpses in the river Ganga in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

    The plea has sought directions for constituting a three-tier committee at the central, state and panchayat, and the rural and municipality levels to look after the disposal of the bodies.

    Petitioner Vineet Jindal has claimed in his plea that disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims in rivers could have a devastating effect on the drinking water supply of people residing in cities and villages situated on the river banks, and there is an apprehension of transmission of diseases as well.

    “It is respectfully submitted that the dead bodies of COVID-19 affected persons are being buried on the banks of rivers.

    Sand covering the bodies is blown away by strong winds, exposing the decomposing bodies,” said the plea filed through advocate Raj Kishor Choudhary.

    The petition has arrayed the Centre, the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and the pollution control boards of these two states as respondents.

    It has sought a direction to the authorities to remove all such bodies and restore the ecology of the riverbeds.

    The plea has also sought to declare the Ganga riverbed an ecologically sensitive area and hence, be protected and preserved.

    It said that directions should be given to the authorities concerned to provide safe drinking water to people living near river banks so that they do not use contaminated water.

    The plea has sought directions to the authorities to immediately take appropriate steps to either conduct door-to-door COVID-19 test or organise medical camps for tests in such areas where bodies were found along the river banks so that infection may not spread to others.

    It has also sought directions for taking appropriate steps to vaccinate people residing adjacent to the river banks of the Ganga.

    The plea said many poor people do not have the resources for a proper burial and the authorities should be directed to take strict action against those who charge money in the name of performing last rites at crematoriums and graveyards.

    It said that “in order to ensure that dignity is upheld during handling of bodies, the cremation/burial ground staff must be sensitised about proper handling of the body”.

    The plea said necessary safety equipment and facilities should be provided to the staff at cremation and burial grounds so that they can perform their duties efficiently and without any fear or risk.

  • Less number of working days among those in informal sector: Survey

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Workers employed in informal sectors have suffered major loss of work days which has left them struggling for rations as the second wave of pandemic hit the country, shows a survey by civil society organisation Centre for Labour Research and Action.

    The survey was conducted across seven locations of Ajmer, Bhilwara in Rajasthan, and Mehsana, Dahod, Mahisagar, Ahmedabad, and Surat districts of Gujarat.

    The total number of respondents was 590 — 454 male interviewees and 136 women interviewees for the month of April.

    The workers interviewed were engaged in brick kiln, agriculture, construction, domestic, and sugarcane work.

    The respondents from Ajmer and Bhilwara district of Rajasthan were brick-kiln workers, and others were construction workers, agriculture workers and domestic workers.

    The study analysed the work availability, food availability, and health and pandemic among workers.

    On an average, people were getting 18 days of work. Except in brick-kiln and sugarcane work, workers in others sector were getting less than an average of 15 days of work. Over 65 per cent of workers were getting less than 20 days of work, it said.

    Agriculture workers were severely hit. With vegetable markets affected, the market price of vegetables had gone down. This led to hiring of less number of agriculture workers, it said. MNREGA work had stopped because of the pandemic, it said.

    Availability of rations were dwindling with 47 per cent of workers saying that rations were available with them, and 53 per cent facing food shortage at their home.

    While 5 per cent of people said they do not have any rations available with them, 15 per cent of workers had one month of rations available with them. While the informal sector was severely hit by the pandemic, the awareness of government announcement of free rations remained poor. It showed that only 17 per cent of workers were aware of free rations announcement.

    There was resistance among the interviewees when it came to the question of vaccination with 5 per cent of respondents saying they had taken vaccination while the other 95 per cent did not.

    There was fear of vaccination among workers, the survey showed.

  • Indian Army Common Entrance Exam scheduled on May 30 postponed due to COVID-19 situation

    By ANI
    SECUNDERABAD: In view of the current COVID-19 situation, the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) scheduled on 30 May been postponed till further orders.

    The exam was scheduled to be held at Arty Centre, Hyderabad for successful candidates of the Army Recruitment Rally held at Telangana State Sports School, Hakimpet.

    According to a release issued by the Defense wing, the fresh date of the CEE will be intimated later through the Indian Army’s website when the situation improves.

    Candidates will have to physically report to ARO, Secunderabad, and obtain fresh Admit Cards once the fresh date finalised, the press release stated.

    Army recruitment rally for all districts of Telangana was held at Telangana Sports School, Hakimpet from March 5 to March 24 under the aegis of ARO, Secunderabad.

  • ‘Jabs for all will take time’: Centre  says vaccine availability is ‘finite’

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Centre on Tuesday rebuffed the demands made by some states to open up vaccination for more age groups, saying vaccine availability is “finite” and the aim is to protect those who are most vulnerable, and not to “administer to those who want it but to those who need it.”

    During a weekly press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that many people are asking why isn’t the government opening up vaccination for all those above 18 years. He said that even Western countries have conducted the vaccination drive in phases.

    “The basic aim is to reduce death through vaccination. The other aim is to protect your healthcare system. If healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, paramedics and others fall sick, who will work in hospitals? So the aim, for any country, is to protect those who are the most vulnerable. The aim is never to administer the vaccine to those who want it but to those who need it,” Bhushan said.

    NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul also said that the narrative has to be seen in a scientific way. He said that priority groups have been decided who are vulnerable to mortality. “Because history will only remember how many deaths have taken place. Globally, vaccine is finite.” 

    Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray on Monday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relax the age limit for the vaccination. The IMA also wrote to Modi suggesting that vaccination be allowed for all people above the age of 18 years.

    Negative test must or Rs 1,000 fine in MahaMumbai: People involved  in essential services either have to be vaccinated or carry Covid test result to work in Maharashtra. “If anyone is found violating the government norms, then he or she will be penalised  Rs 1,000,” the state government said in its order.

    Chouhan launches awareness campaignBhopal: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a 24-hour Swasthya Agraha to appeal people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour. Chouhan chaired a Cabinet meeting from the venue and also held the daily COVID-19 situation review meeting through virtual tools. 

    ‘News channel can sensitise people ‘The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting urged private news channels to raise awareness on vaccination of those who are eligible and on Covid appropriate behaviour.  It issued an advisory to private TV news channels, seeking help to disseminate the message in public interest.

  • Covid concerns likely to halt Kailash Mansarovar yatra this year too

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: The annual Kailash Mansarovar yatra may get cancelled this year too.

    Officials from Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency for the annual pilgrimage in Uttrakhand, said so far, no preparatory meetings have been held by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

    Ashok Joshi, the general manager of the KMVN said, “We are witnessing Covid surge again in the country. There are high chances that the yatra will be cancelled again.” 

    The first few meetings were convened by the MEA in Delhi followed by a meeting in Pithoragarh attended by the representatives from the KMVN, the district administration, and the ITBP.  

    However, no updates have been received regarding the yatra leading to speculations that it might be cancelled for the second year in a row. Last year, the yatra had been cancelled due to the pandemic. 

    The yatra commences every year from June and concludes in September. It is managed by the KMVN with the help of the ITBP and the local administration.

  • Covid exposed lacunae in implementation of social welfare schemes: Report

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Covid pandemic has exposed the gaps in the implementation of direct benefit transfer (DBT) and public distribution system (PDS) infrastructure in India, according to a report. 

    There is an immediate need for a people-centric approach when it comes to the implementation of these schemes, the report pointed out.

    The report — Delivery of Social Protection Entitlements in India: Unpacking Exclusion, Grievance Redress, and the Relevance of Citizen-Assistance Mechanisms — was collated by Dvara Research, Gram Vaani, researchers from IIT Delhi, the University of Montreal, and the Tika Vaani project. The project was funded by the Azim Premji University.

    The research methodology included analysis of 1017 voice recordings of citizens speaking about their grievances and deep-dive interviews of over 10 people selected through critical-case sampling from among the total sample size.

    The highest incidence of exclusion in schemes was due to the way they were processed, the analysis showed. Schemes should be made more citizen-centric so that people can access them, the report said.

    When it came to DBT schemes, around 55 per cent of the total DBT-related complaints from March to June faced issues due to Aadhaar linkage, spelling error, blocked accounts which led to unsuccessful crediting of beneficiary accounts, the report said. In the context of MGNREGA, 66 per cent of the complaints to either problem with work allocation or wage payment processing, the analysis showed. 

    “Around 77 per cent of all complaints pertained to people who had received no work. “The scale of the issue has underscored that the efficacy of the scheme is seriously compromised, even while there is substantial demand,” the report said. A significant number of people reported they were not paid their wages in full. 

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    “There is a need to systematically document citizen grievances and the actions taken to address them to help local officials along the welfare delivery chain be better prepared in solving issues for beneficiaries. We believe that the succinct typology of all the exclusionary factors, as detailed in the report, will help policymakers and other researchers at large to better understand citizens’ perspectives,” said Aarushi Gupta, research associate at Dvara Research.

    The analysis of PDS complaints highlighted that many citizens who needed government support were excluded from in-kind transfers under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana either because they did not have a ration card, given the relief package’s eligibility criteria. The report also observed there was discretionary denialand quantity fraud by fair price shop officers, where people were denied their ration or sent away empty-handed or with less ration than the entitled quota with no documented reasons for the shortfall.

    Most of the EPF complaints pertained to problems people faced in withdrawing their PF contributions due to incomplete employee records or inconsistencies in the spelling of names, date of birth, dates of employment, etc. Lack of cooperation and timely assistance by employers was found to be a key reason for these issues, the report said.

    The report recommended the need to ensure access to social entitlements which are impeded by last-mile problems that people are not able to navigate on their own.

    “The government needs to take a more proactive and citizen-friendly approach by setting up sahayata kendras, fostering community-based institutions, and linking with civil society institutions, to facilitate a smoother interface for citizens to be able to utilise valuable safety nets to which they are entitled,” said Aaditeshwar Seth from Gram Vaani.

  • BJP raising funds for Ram temple by capitalising on Covid pandemic: Akhilesh

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Firing a fresh salvo at the ruling BJP, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused it of capitalising on pandemic to raise funds for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

    “The BJP government itself has been saying that it creates opportunities out of the calamity. And thus, it is collecting chanda (contributions) in this time of calamity (Covid-19 pandemic),” he said at a press conference.

    Notably, SP president had taunted the BJP in Parliament recently by calling the party ‘Chandajivi’ (living on donations). Akhilesh reiterated on Saturday that in ancient Indian culture, there was no such thing as Chanda. “We have the culture of Dakshina (offering). We are ready to give Dakshina, if the BJP accepts it,” he said.

    Claiming that the days of BJP government in the state were numbered, the SP chief continued to attack CM Yogi Adityanath by accusing him of lying even on the floor of Assembly. “The way CM is lying in the assembly… Those who lie in the legislature, who would punish them? People will punish them,” Akhilesh said while referring to the payment of minimum support price (MSP) to farmers for their crops.

    “CM lied in the assembly that MSP was given to farmers. Everyone knows that farmers did not get MSP for maize, or even rice. He (CM Yogi) charged the SP government with selling off the sugar mills, if he is really a Yogi then he should tell which sugar mill was sold out during the SP regime,” said Akhilesh.

    He accused the Yogi government of doing no work during the last four year which they could show to the people before going into the 2022 polls. “This government continues to hijack SP government’s work to show it as its own,” he maintained. “This is because the CM is not from UP. He came from another state.

    Had he belonged to UP he would have worked for the state,” said the SP chief.

    “The way people are joining Samajwadi Party in droves; the BJP will be swept out and the people will ‘deploy’ SP in the 2022 UP Assembly polls to rescue the state,” claimed the SP chief.

    Launching an attack on Centre on increasing fuel price, Akhilesh said: “To hide its failure on the economic front, the BJP government hikes petrol and diesel prices and puts the burden on farmers and the youth. And it is sad and shameful that now the government is saying the price hike was for nation-building.”