Coronavirus Management: Great Leaders vs. Narendra Modi
As Modi is not able to handle the situation, health experts warn that the country of 1.4 billion people will have around 1.3 million coronavirus cases by mid-May.
By Rakesh Raman
During the past couple of weeks, coronavirus (COVID-19) has killed thousands of people and crippled the economies in all parts of the world. The global leaders and their governments are taking all possible steps to save their people from this scourge.
At this stage, here is a comparison of the approach being taken by the world leaders and the steps taken by India’s Hindu prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
| Coronavirus Management Steps Taken By |
|
| Great World Leaders | Narendra Modi of India |
| Allowed people to prepare before lockdown | Announced lockdown with a dictatorial diktat |
| Giving free ration to people at their homes | Giving only bhashan (political speeches) to people |
| Providing hospital equipment to doctors | Asking people to bang their utensils to support doctors |
| Providing shelter to people in hotels | Allowed people to die on open roads |
| Implemented coronavirus lockdown successfully | Lockdown failed for lack of planning |
| Providing healthcare to people in homes | Asking people to watch a Hindu TV serial Ramayana at homes |
| Holding press conferences to inform people | Delivering meaningless monologues |
| Transparency in handling coronavirus funds | Chances of corruption in coronavirus funds |
| Increasing number of coronavirus tests | Hardly any tests while thousands of people die |
| Making hospitals for citizens | Making detention centers for citizens |
| Working with teams of experts | Working alone or with unskilled bureaucrats and clueless ministers |
| Managing as intelligent leaders | Behaving as a religious demagogue |
As Modi is not able to handle the situation, health experts warn that the country of 1.4 billion people will have around 1.3 million coronavirus cases by mid-May and the infection will eventually reach 20% of the Indian population or nearly 300 million (30 crore) people.
While the Modi government failed to plan and implement the lockdown, hundreds of thousands of poor migrant workers are leaving the cities to go to their native places while the lockdown is in progress. As they defied the social distancing guidelines, millions of people in India will get infected with coronavirus for which Modi alone is responsible.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications and research reports on different subjects.
