Only 4 hours to prepare: A government failure

Photo taken in Barseras, Chhindgarh Tehsil, Dantewada - Chhattisgarh

It beats me to think about the complacency the Central Government has shown towards the suffering of the millions during the lockdown. What beats me even further is the lack of thought to mitigate the suffering of the millions of poor. While it is the duty of the privileged to do whatever it may be in the best interest of the underprivileged, it is the foremost duty and responsibility of the Government to have plans in place before imposing a lockdown for a nation as populous as India. 

For the millions left stranded in different parts of the country without money and jobs, they had only two options: either die of starvation or COVID-19. 

The nation was  given 4 hours, only 4 hours to prepare for a hiatus of 20 days. Four hours to buy essential commodities and plan travel. This in my opinion reflects of poor planning and  mismanagement by the government. How do you expect a population of 1.3 billion to equip themselves in such a short period of time?

In preparation for the lockdown, state governments should have made available all essential commodities in all big and small supermarkets and kirana shops across India; efforts should have been directed towards ramping up public transport services for migrant workers to travel back home and deploying police personnel at various junctures to coordinate the effects.

When the government can deploy almost 1 million police and army personnel in Kashmir to monitor a ruthlessly imposed lockdown last August 2019, why could the government not provide basic services prior to a nationwide lockdown with armed support?

Lack of planning and initiative has led to immense suffering by migrant workers and daily wage earners leaving them stranded, hungry and exhausted. 

How can you blame the poor if they are out there on the roads in thousands protesting only because they want to go home? Did they need to lose their lives and starve to death for the government to realise their hardships?

Perhaps simple and effective steps could have ensured a less disastrous and more effective lockdown for the nation.

Parched villages: Water scarcity in times of COVID-19

Photo taken close to Jamawada village, Bastar - Chhattisgarh

Water scarcity in India has been a long-standing problem. Last year, India was faced with one of the worst droughts with hand pumps and wells that had run dry in the 45 degree celsius heatwave. The acute water shortage had left crops withered and livestock starving with very little water to drink in villages like Hatkarwadi, 20 miles from Beed in Maharashtra.

This year the rural hinterlands of our country have a dual problem to face; water scarcity and COVID-19. 

While the country has been in a state of lockdown since the 24th March 2020, villagers have been hit with issues like unemployment, lack of payment, unseasonal rainfall, crop failure, inefficient market linkage, hunger and starvation. Water scarcity will be an icing on the cake.

Many districts within India have one tap for four to five households. Villagers have to face a disconcerting choice: they can wash their hands or keep social distance, but it's hard to practice both methods to ward off the disease. 

India's water ministry urged state governments to spread a message to all of India: Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds throughout the day is critical. But in India and other developing countries, the message ignores an important question: What if you don't have enough clean water? What if you don't have water at all after a certain point?

If we are expected to wash our hands after touching a surface outside the home, after coughing, sneezing and blowing the nose, using the toilet, managing garbage etc - it easily amounts to at least 10 times a day. For India, that's a lot of hand washing. A NITI Aayog report found that 82% of rural households (146 million homes) do not have piped running water.

This year, even before summer, roughly 35% of India is facing drought and drought-like conditions. The affected parts of our rural hinterlands need to depend on water tankers by the government. The sad bit is that government trucks don't show up in a lot of these villages. The idea of washing hands multiple times in a day may sound absolutely absurd to the people.

To expect that people in this poverty-stricken, water-deficient country will prioritise washing hands over using it for agricultural purposes is nothing short of a cruel joke. 

India's "invisiblized" people

Photo taken in Jabarra village, Nagri Tehsil, Dhamtari district - Chhattisgarh

Rural India - a place which gets lost in the noise of other news. Farmers in a lockdown are facing an uphill task trying to sell their agricultural produce. What impact has this had on rural India?

It has been a double whammy for the Indian farmers; on the one hand there has been unseasonal rainfall has taken its toll on crops and then came the corona lockdown. 

As supply chains choke up, crops begin to rot. While some go hungry, farmers with milk to sell have no takers. Tonnes of gallons of milk have been thrown away and crops are left to wilt. The rural economy of India is under tremendous strain. How long will it take to normalise? 

In another 10-15 days, over a 100 districts will enter their annual water scarcity problem. How the heck are we going to deal with this? Is there an iota of thinking about this within the government authorities? 

What are people going to do - forget washing their hands 8 times a day, when they will not have water to drink? 

For the first time people are realising who their workforce is and learning that is isn't the techies of  Bengaluru. For the first time they are learning what makes the everyday of this country function. Without that labour, we urbanites are nothing. The same labour that has been informalized, from whom rights and entitlements have been taken away in the name of labour market flexibility etc.

Handlooms and handicrafts for decades have been the largest employees in the country after agriculture. We have weavers at the edge of starvation in many states within the country. Many  artisans, craftsman and weavers are sitting with huge inventories of unsold items. The months of February to April see a huge number of exhibitions around the country which has now been cancelled. What are these people going to do?

Life before and after COVID-19 will not be the same. We have destroyed their safety and ignored the concerns of the small and marginalised farmers, migrants and others. 

What plan does the government of India have for them?

Farmer Distress - Is suicide an option?

Photo taken in Bunagaon village, Kondagaon Tehsil, Bastar - Chhattisgarh

I am typing this at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, comfortably seated in my chair after having eaten a scrumptiously prepared meal by my mother. Despite being under lockdown, life is indeed very comfortable and I cannot complain at all. 

But let's take a step back and think about all those journeys we made to the rural hinterlands of India, where we saw fruits ripen on trees, and organic vegetables grow in the paddy fields. Let's think about how we enjoyed photographing those fruits and veggies and spreading information on the benefits of consuming organic foods as opposed to those available in the Sabzi Mandi. Think of all the apples, oranges and bananas we were easily able to buy off shelves wherever we went and however remote we travelled.

And now let's talk about the rate at which farmers MAY commit suicide because they are unable to sell their produce as a result of which their families MAY die of starvation. Farmers all across the country are in a state of panic because the ripening fruits and vegetables are beginning to rot because Mandi operations have almost stopped. Labour cannot reach farms and orchards due to transport bottlenecks.

This is the time for harvest. Fruits like watermelons that have been stored in godowns and warehouses would have to be thrown away if they don't reach the market within 3-4 days of being harvested. The Centre keeps saying that essential services will be provided. However, states are not allowing farmers to harvest. 

The losses to farmers are in millions of rupees. The situation is grave. Very very grave. What will they do if their produce doesn't reach the markets? How will their families survive? When will the relief package promised by the government reach any of them? Who will take care of this humanitarian crisis. The poor are getting poorer. 

We need to question the government at every single point. What is the government doing really? Asking the damn world to light diyas and clap for frontline workers? Really now, is this how we show solidarity? 

The answer is NO! We need to find solutions look after the millions of farmers out there who might be at the verge of suicide. Farmer suicide is not an uncommon issue in India. Millions have committed suicide in the past and they may see themselves die either due to starvation or COVID-19. 

Landha and Mahua: Is that going to be the solution?

I went to Chhattisgarh for a 14 days trip in February. I visited multiple villages and interacted with different tribals within the regions of Bastar and Dantewada. My trip was nothing short of an adventure; the cultural experience was raw and authentic. 

But at this point, I am not going to write about how enriching the experience was and why people must visit Chhattisgarh. With an exodus of migrants walking from one part of the country to another and many dying due to hunger, I have been unable to wrap my head around the thought of how the people I recently met in a highly impoverished and underdeveloped state would survive the lockdown. Most of the villages I visited lack basic amenities like a PHC while some villages in the interiors have never seen the light of government interventions. 

People are unable to manage a square meal for themselves owing to lack of income. In order to fill their bellies, they prepare Landha or Mahua, a locally brewed alcoholic beverage that keeps them full for hours.

In such grim circumstances where the world is fighting an unknown enemy, how would these people survive with little or absolutely no money? Is Landha or Mahua the solution; one which they have been resorting to for the longest time? With the agricultural sector being hit the worst, what would these people do? 

White town, Pondicherry

Tai

Jabarra village

Photo taken in Jabarra, Nagri Tehsil, Dhamtari district - Chhattisgarh