Governments face a major dilemma: Should they respond to the downturn caused by the pandemic with more emissions in the short term or should they sacrifice short-term growth for long-term gains? In truth, the pandemic gives the world an opportunity to pursue faster growth through green energy.
Posts tagged as “coronavirus”
Despite several laws that have been enacted to protect the interests of labourers and migrant workers, most of the provisions are hardly implemented. The Interstate Migrant Workmen Act, for instance, was designed to protect migrant workers. But only 309 people have been registered under the law.
The U.S. is the second-largest manufacturer in the world but it is heavily dependent on other countries for imports. Owing to tensions and tariffs, imports from China have fallen sharply in recent years. That provides a huge opportunity for India, provided it can find a delicate balance in its monetary policy.
COVID-19 has significantly upended the traditional learning process and has impacted students and teachers at all levels. In order to recover lost gains in education, India will have to pursue greater flexibility in its education system and be more open to newer and less traditional solutions.
While medical equipment may be obtained, skilled personnel are required to operate them. However, there is no credible resource that provides segmented data on personnel and infrastructure. In the absence of such data, tackling emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes impossible.
Vaccination should have been easy, given our large production capacities, successful past mass vaccination, and the advanced logistical infrastructure of our election machinery, which could have been used. Instead, even affluent urban Indians are struggling to access an indigenously produced vaccine.
India must go much further than just survive this pandemic. A political culture of communalism and vengeance led to opaque governance and misplaced policy priorities. Many Indians voted for false communal pride, but as the pandemic hit, they found that they needed oxygen instead.
From a haphazardly unplanned vaccine diplomacy drive to undiplomatic public letters, India's foreign policy has prioritised image over substance. Without substance and efficient and effective delivery of services, such measures are simply perceived by the outside world as empty, self-promoting bluster.
Unlike the U.S., which was criticised for hoarding vaccines with no clear intention to use them all, India was the poster boy of true global integration – sharing its already limited resources with the ones that needed it. But amidst the pride and triumphalism, the Indian government forgot to plan and prepare.
Developing countries want patent protections to be temporarily removed for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. But this will destroy the incentives that made these vaccines possible in the first place. Pharma companies and global institutions have shown that there are other ways to make medicines affordable.