Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Pandemic, Lockdown & the Government !!

12 April 21

Hon CM, Maharashtra.

Respected Sir,

Keeping due respect for you & your team’s effort in the fight against the virus, felt like writing something to you, please do go through...

“Good intentions are useless unless they are backed up with some common sense... Jami.

Full name Moulana Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami, was one of the great classical Sufi poets of Persia & many of his poetic stories speaks about aspects of life around & the quote does show us the wisdom he has filled up with it! And I wish we could have some portion of this wisdom (read as our rulers) as I remembered these words today morning when I was on way to site & saw the empty road ahead of me on a Sunday morning at 10 am, its 11^th April 21 & I remembered this scene which was exactly same one year back (I was on road to go to site for labour payments)! Same road, same silence, same blossoming trees, same closed shutters of the shops, same occasional vehicle zooming aside, same police force faces on roads, same barricades in the chowks, same faces of a lone pedestrian covered with mask looking for any vegetable or milk vendor, same fear as well anxiety in the air; yes you can smell, feel that fear & one more thing, same statements by the same rulers about controlling the fear for the same reason i.e. pandemic! They say “history repeats” but never has experienced it so early because even the last year is also a history & we are witnessing its being repeated!

Needless to say it’s about pandemic, lockdown & unrest it has caused; I am deliberately using the term unrest as last year when we get hit with the pandemic it was fear as nobody fin the world has experienced something like this (in recent future) especially not the most progressive State named Maharashtra. And then the govt was new born (State govt), public health sector was never our forte so no infrastructure to fight with a mass pandemic was going to be a problem & people were ready to stand along with the govt on every effort & that’s why closing down of the businesses, every type of it was accepted by the masses without a word of complaint! Rather people displayed immense courage & humanity in reaching out to help & a never seen society’s human face we all witnessed! But that was last year & under fear boundaries like fraternity, caste, religion, political parties’ & many such do melt down, which happened with the fear of the unknown & the cases reduced all around the State & we thought we won the war against the unseen enemy!

Well, that’s the problem like religion, caste or corruption like unseen enemies; just its army (and victims) get reduced on the surface but that doesn’t mean we have conquered the enemy forever & the virus wasn’t an exception to this law for the unseen enemy! And then the vaccine came on the market with a caller tune on everybody’s cell phone, praising India & its leadership & we thought that’s it, the virus has gone! As soon the numbers of patients reduced we started New Normal (we actually announced it) with no masks, no sanitizers, and leave apart social distancing even the night joints were full & yes marriages with Band Baja, Barat in full swing needless to say without any mask of social distance! All over the world experts were warning about the second wave but we thought we conquered the virus! If this is on public side then govt is of the people, by the people for the people; instead of bracing up for new hospitals, oxygen facility beds, stock of vaccine as well other medicines & training the staff for such emergency as well making quarantine facilities, the govt (read as all concerned including local bodies like municipal corporations) closed down the makeshift arrangements of hospitals & the pandemic squads were winded up & sent back to their normal duty & only for god known reasons the vaccination was conducted through registration & as per discretion of the govt (btw Hon PM Sir, though I am your admirer yet even I wondered about your photo on the vaccination dosage form, that was totally unnecessary frankly as we all know you by face & accept your dedication towards this Nation). Agreed to monitor black-marketing of vaccines was the idea behind this registration thing but we could have parellely made it available in the open market for those who can afford it, right?

Then one more joke was about ambiguity over the process of vaccination itself as at start nobody told its two fold dosage & then about second dosage it’s informed that after 28 days from first dosage & later when it’s backfired then it’s been extended to 50 days post first dosage, funny isn’t it? Though this I can understand as all procedures even testing has been done in hurry considering the situation yet when playing with lives of millions such basic things like time span between two dosages must have been given clarity as all such news leads to rumours & false news for which we Indians are famous for! No wonder at the start many people opted not to go for vaccination as the side effects of it & govt has to clarify about the importance of the vaccination & later there are riots to get the vaccination done, we are indeed the funniest lot!

Oh k, now the second wave is at peak & every day govt (though mainly Hon CM) is adding to the confusion of the common man about not just the lockdown but the entire situation as right now nobody knows anything about what is ahead, is a fact! We don’t know how many patients are out there, how many doctors are available, what’s exact rules & regulations for present lockdown (whatever it is) i.e. what can be open & what is to remain closed (don’t ask why, right now), we don’t know availability of vaccine dosage stock at which place, we don’t know numbers of hospitals & beds available in a city leave the State, we don’t know whom to call at single point for any help we need for covid patients, we don’t know quarantine facilities available, we don’t know legal covid test centres & their standard fees in short we don’t know anything & that’s the anguish. Oh, yes in the "don’t know" list there is 10^th & 12^th std exams & the way it will be conducted , so those students & parents are at extreme anxiety levels & nobody cares as everyday more confusing statements by the authorities are released in the media! Why can’t they just give average of 8^th & 9^th Std marks to the 10^th guys as I wonder how many kids which weren’t accessible to even radio or TV has completed their syllabus via online classes & those who has attended these online classes have understood what they have attended & yet we making them to appear for the 10^th exam, great!

About business & work front the lesser I wrote the better as last time’s lockdown (read as an year back i.e. in 2020) every business fraternity stood behind their lower rank work force for stay, food & money but this time the business fraternity itself is looking towards govt for these things for themselves such is the scene, so let’s focus on what can be done instead wasting time on what has happened!

First of all study the pattern of what countries like Japan did at their end & let’s make three fold plan, i.e. short term, long term & permanent one with execution system in place About short term, awareness campaign in every possible media & to the point with very clear guidelines about fines if not followed! Start one single contact helpline for the entire State about clear information for anything the caller asks about his or her issues with the recording system & follow-up of this helpline by competent authority! Then open up the shops, businesses with very clear guide lines in print form make them stick on the shop or office & checking squads at random & authority to shut the unit in case found violating the norms! Don't restrict people from exercising like walking in the open as fitnes can’t be achieved by locking down people, instead make them aware about right way to fitness & monitor it! For e.g. if a two wheeler rider driving without mask then seize his vehicle for a month type actions! Just see that, this doesn't turn out another corruption centre so there has to be a squad on the checking squads also (Arya Chankya policy)! Create task force squads by appointing people from govt depts. as well from private (willing volunteers) to do these checking squads if man power is an issue. Then make a policy that only one point media contact from the govt side at State as well City level & take serious actions about any authority violating this norm even any minister also! No public functions, not even political rallies or get-togethers, leave apart marriages or social celebrations for next nine months, as these are the real centres actually of spreading the virus than any other business or profession! Strict norms for public transport of social distancing & appoint extra man power in public busses or trains to see that people follow it, get more numbers of vehicles on roads & on rail tracks to accommodate the people! Use as many private hotels & schools as quarantine centres & pay them in advance & charge people who are renting it, you can actually make some money also out of it as well make all this information available on the help line! Most important is to make the masses (public at large) free of uncertainty as that’s making more damage than the pandemic, is a fact! And the damage is not just physical but long lasting & on all aspects of the society as in the entire country our State (Pune & Mumbai) are considered as unsafe to live which is not a fact & this image will hamper many industries for a long time ahead!

In the long term (this is more important) , immediately form a permanent task force for the epidemic & ask them to submit their primary plan in fifteen days & in say three months permanent one! We can think of forming a State level as well city level brain-pool of maximum 10 people from private & govt ( five each) to meet every day on zoom & share & review the situation of controlling efforts! Start building infrastructure at every town & city according to the population density & cover not just viral but even radiation as well. Then make an action plan of every such infra centre & form a system to monitor the action plan & responsibility of executing it! Ask this force to evaluate financial losses & provision for the same as the way we give packages to farmers we can (or will have to) give the same to businesses also if at all total lockdown seems the only option for some time! After all, it’s about survival, from the virus or from hunger (read as unemployment or business loss) & we can’t afford both! Take some important decisions such as stamp duty concession extension (just an example) as well as work out industry wise damage & relief plans (for e.g. soft loans at low interest rates) for them & share the same with the respective industry. This will at least make people feel hopeful about surviving financially, may it be business, profession or job.

Lastly & most important permanent one & that is to make a system which will be on for twenty four hours, ready for any epidemic or public health disaster. And knowing our country, no system works on its own is an unfortunate fact so give responsibility to one single person the way the Election Commissioner is, along with enough power (read as authority) to run this system for the right output! Agreed they say “history repeats” & so will be some pandemic times also but it’s not about repetition of the history is a problem but has we studied & learnt from studying the history, is what will decide whether we will be able to sustain the repetition of such history or get washed away with it; Hon CM Sir, till then all good wishes & support to you & your team!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/01/post-lock-down-real-estate-home-buying.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/

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