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inside the tablighi Jamaat How tHe StateS are

FigHting CoViD-19
www.indiatoday.in april 20, 2020 `60
registered no. dl(nd)-11/6068/2018-20; U(c)-88/2018-20; FAridABAd/05/2020-22 licensed to post withoUt prepAyment

MAGAZINE KING
rni no. 28587/75

hard rOad tO recOvery

wHat tHe MoDi goVernMent MuSt Do to
put Corona-Hit inDia baCk in buSineSS
FROM THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
A
s India enters the third week of the unprecedented
lockdown to arrest the spread of the coronavirus,
the big question weighing on everyone’s mind is
whether it will be extended or lifted or strategically
eased. This is the most difficult decision for the government
to make in view of the mounting evidence of the economic
suffering the lockdown is causing to the most vulnerable in
our society. According to a recent report by the International
Labour Office (ILO), 400 million people working in the
informal economy are at the risk of falling deeper into poverty
during the crisis. The weekly tracker survey of the Centre for
Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that the unem-
ployment rate shot up from 6.7 per cent mid-March to 23 per
cent in the week ending April 5. The well-off countries don’t
have to worry so much about prolonged economic lockdowns
because of their social security nets. India does not
have that luxury. Rural India is also on the verge
of harvesting its rabi crop.
To put it cold-heartedly, 28,164 persons
on an average die every day in India and a
few thousand more should not warrant a
lockdown. The problem is that COV-
ID-19 is such an infectious disease that
it can spread very fast if not contained
and lead to a massive number of people
requiring hospital care simultaneously,
MAGAZINE KING
leading to a collapse of the medical infra-
structure. This compression of the crisis
can lead to a sudden spike in mortality
which no government, specially a democratically
elected one, can accept. The prime minister acted
promptly and correctly in imposing a national lock-
down to avoid this eventuality. It bought us time to
contain the spread of the disease through measures
such as social distancing, more testing and strength-
ening our medical infrastructure by enhancing quarantine
facilities, procuring ventilators and vital personal protection
equipment. India does have some factors in its favour such as
the fact that 83 per cent of its population is under 50.
However, beyond all this is a looming financial emergency,
the likes of which India has not seen post Independence.
This is because never before have the wheels of the economy
ground to such a complete halt. When the wheels of the
economy turn, vast numbers of Indians lift themselves out
of poverty. When the economy shuts down, as it has now,
millions of families could be staring at a fate far worse than
death. The government hence needs to find ways to restore
our economic health and fight its way out of this unique crisis.
Unique because the pandemic struck when our third-quarter
GDP growth was already decelerating to its lowest in over
six years. The impact, as a recent KPMG report assessing the
pandemic’s economic effects noted, is a ‘supply, demand and a
market shock’. A manufacturing-only recession already under
way has now spread to the services sector. Other reputable
rating agencies have downgraded India’s growth rate for the
financial year 2020-21, ranging from as low as 1.6 per cent to
a maximum of 3.5 per cent. This makes it even more urgent
to start on the arduous path of restarting the economy in a
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE
planned manner so as not to endanger lives or livelihoods.
The clamour to spend our way out of the COVID-19 crisis,
just as the rest of the world is doing, is immense. The US
will throw a mammoth $2.2 trillion (10 per cent of its GDP)
economic lifeline to its economy, the UK $430 billion (15
per cent of GDP) and Japan $1 trillion (20 per cent of GDP).
India’s only relief package so far has been Rs 1.7 lakh crore,
which amounts to a paltry 0.8 per cent of GDP. By several
estimates, India needs to spend Rs 10 lakh crore (5 per cent
of GDP) to pull out of this crisis. This money needs to flow
into the economy to spur demand and the productivity of
industries, which employ 110 million people, or 28.94 per
cent of our non-rural workforce.
Our cover story, ‘Hard Road to Recovery’, put together
by Deputy Editor Shwweta Punj and Executive Editor M.G.
Arun, with Senior Editor Anilesh S. Mahajan, examines
the options before the government. Our correspondents
across the country assess how chief ministers of
major states are dealing with the pandemic. This is
a time for true federalism to beat the scourge.
The pandemic is the biggest of the three crises
to have hit the Indian economy in the past three
decades. The first was the balance of pay-
ments crisis in 1991, and the second, the world
economic crisis of 2008. What we learned from
those financial calamities was that nothing
works better than a crisis to push
governments towards landmark
economic reforms. When we were
hurtling downwards in those crucial
years, the government had no way
out but to revive the economy with
a series of policy reforms—either
by ending the Licence-permit Raj
in 1991 or fiscal interventions in
2008. Just like all of us are re-setting our lives to deal with
this pandemic and the economic disruption, so must the
government rethink the way it works and make itself leaner
and more efficient. This is not the time for incrementalism.
This is the time to make difficult choices and take swift and
bold action in the national interest without worrying about
political consequences. The economic emergency has to be
dealt with the same urgency and audacity as the medical one.
If we don’t act now, we will have to pay a heavier price later.
We need to seize the hour, and we will only emerge stronger
on the other side of the pandemic.
(Aroon Purie)
P.S.: In this crisis, authentic information is your best weapon.
We at India Today remain committed to bringing you clarity
and correct information. A PDF version of this issue is available
free on www.indiatoday.in/emag or www.indiatoday.in/magzter.
We also bring you daily Insights on India’s response to the crisis.
Log in to www.indiatoday.in/india-today-magazine-insight.
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 3
 INSIDE
UPFRONT LEISURE
COVID: THE BHILWARA ARAVIND ADIGA: THE
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MAGAZINE KING
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The economy will need a well-

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 UPFRONT
EXPOSURE: LIFE
IN THE TIME OF
COVID PG 8
SUMIT SARASWAT/GETT Y IMAGE
MAGAZINE KING
THE BHILWARA MODEL
T
he textile town of Bhilwara in
southcentral Rajasthan has
come a long way in just under
a week. It took some doing to
go from being India’s scariest corona
hotbed in the early days, when news
broke of a doctor in Bangad Hospital
contracting the disease, to now being
cited as a containment model the Cen-
tre wants to replicate everywhere in its
evolving strategy to battle the spread
of COVID-19 in India. Before the
imposition of a 10-day, no-exceptions
‘maha curfew’ on April 3, Bhilwara
district had 27 cases; since April 2, it
has reported no new cases.
COVID-19 cases have been
reported in 284* (or 39 per cent) of
India’s 736 districts. As of April 7, 63
C OV I D - 1 9
per cent of these cases were reported
in 63 districts, spread across 17 states.
Five states—Tamil Nadu, Delhi,
Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh—account for 39 of these
hotspot districts. According to the
health ministry containment plan,
the current distribution of COVID-19
mimics the distribution of the H1N1
ZEROING IN ON
EMERGING COVID-19
CENTRES IN INDIA
AND ISOLATING
PATIENTS WILL BE A
DAUNTING TASK
POV: SUCCOUR
FOR THE MOST
VULNERABLE PG 15
COVID COPS Policemen in
protective masks patrol the
streets in Bhilwara, Rajasthan
pandemic influenza. If that pattern
holds, all parts of the country will
not be uniformly hit, which lends
substance to the current differential
approach, with an emphasis on strong
containment efforts in known and
emerging hotspots. Given its wide
spread in the rest of the country (see
infographic overleaf: India’s COVID
Hotspots), even a selective approach
will be a daunting task. Zeroing in
on emerging centres and isolating
patients is easier said than done—it
requires deployment of trained health
workers and other resources.
*Based on 4,067 cases for which
districtwise break-up is available;
districts with at least 15 cases have
been considered
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 5
UPFRONT

INDIA’S COVID HOTSPOTS

Among other top urban concentrations with a high incidence of COVID-19 are both
the country’s national capital, Delhi, and the country’s financial capital, Mumbai.
As many as nine states have at least a district each featuring over 50 cases

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Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

6 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
 1

MAGAZINE KING
EXPOSUR E

2
A SILENT
PRAYER
Worship, like everything else, moved
indoors as the government imposed
a 21-day national lockdown to con-
tain the spread of the novel corona-
virus, leaving religious places eerily
quiet and empty. The air seemed to
breathe easy too, clean and clear, un-
contaminated by human presence,
even as humans themselves battled
a viral infection. The more desperate
found themselves caught in a strange
purgatory—neither able to return
home nor able to stay, the kindness
of strangers their only hope. It’s a
strange moment in history, the ac-
companying images providing but a
brief glimpse of its zeitgeist.

8 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
PRABHJOT GILL
 UPFRONT

The Ganga aarti at the Dashashwamedh

1 Ghat in Varanasi is a ritual attended by
thousands. On the evening of March
26, it’s a lonely invocation a priest per-
forms at the deserted premises

Milling with people on any given day, the

2 Amrit Sarovar at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar is denuded of all human pres-
ence on March 22, or Janta Curfew Day,
a precursor to the 21-day lockdown

The empty precinct of the Jama Masjid in

3 Delhi during Friday prayers on April 3, the
tenth day of the national lockdown

MAGAZINE KING
ANAND SINGH

SANJEEV VERMA/GETTY IMAGES

3
4

MAGAZINE KING
AJIT SOLANKI/AP

5
MAGAZINE KING
RAJPREET JOHAL

Human absence gave nature a

4 chance to reassert its presence.
Seen here is a clear view of the
Dhauladhar range in Himachal
Pradesh from the city of Jalandhar,
some 213 kilometres away

The Iscon mall in Ahmedabad turns

5 refuge for migrants and homeless,
providing them food as well as
shelter

A motorist rides through a

6 disinfection tunnel in Chennai
ARUN SANKAR/GETT Y IMAGES

A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 11
UPFRONT
BOOKS
A LOOK AT
TOMORROW
By Sarang Shidore
W
hat characterises the changes
in the current global order?
What are their impacts on
nations and peoples? What can India
offer the world in this time of turbu-
lence? These questions are taken up by
two distinguished commentators who
need little introduction—Shashi Tha-
roor and Samir Saran—in their jointly
authored book. Tharoor’s experience at
the United Nations and as an analyst
in foreign affairs and Saran’s long as-
sociation leading a prominent Indian
think-tank stands them in good stead in
tackling this weighty subject matter.
MAGAZINE KING
The authors begin with a survey of
the state of global governance, taking is-
sue with the view that we are witnessing
the decline of the international liberal
order. They argue that five crises stand
out: first, the crisis of legitimacy, arising
from the non-democratic behaviour of
the US and Europe on the world stage.
Linked to this is the crisis of representa-
tion, which limits voices from the Global
South in international institutions. The
crisis of the collective arises due to the
increasingly ‘non-polar’ nature of the
world, which makes coordinated action
on global problems such as climate
change extremely difficult. The crisis of
sovereignty is seen with the stresses on
the nation-state due to fissiparous forces
within, even as the norm of sovereignty
is stubbornly maintained in most parts
of the world. In sum, they argue that the
existing and declining global order was
neither truly international nor orderly,
though it did have its liberal elements.
Tharoor and Saran then concen-
trate on four dimensions that they
see as critical—peace and security,
sustainable development, the cyberdo-
main and global norms. The chapter on
security dwells almost entirely on the
12 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
THE NEW WORLD
DISORDER
by Shashi Tharoor and Samir Saran
`484 (Kindle); 312 pages
The authors concen-
trate on four critical
dimensions—peace
and security, sustain-
able development,
the cyberdomain and
global norms
role of the United Nations, doubtlessly
reflecting Tharoor’s long experience
in that organisation. Both the inef-
ficacy and the indispensability of the
UN are emphasised. But the treatment
could have been broader to encompass
security dynamics (such as the loose
US-Japan-India-Australia security
club known as the Quad or various
unilateral interventions in West Asia)
that take place in parallel to the UN
system. Unfortunately, matters of war
and peace in our time are increasingly
decided through informal partnerships
and unilateral actions rather than the
only truly global organisation.
The chapter on sustainable develop-
ment is a long argument on the inequi-
ties in the current globalised economic
structure, including in climate change
accords such as Paris. The argument is
soundly presented—the inequities, if
anything, are only growing. The chap-
ter, however, could have benefited from
a deeper look at how inequities are also
growing within nation-states (including
India). Such domestic dynamics of sus-
tainable development are major factors
driving higher-level global trends.
Global health merits a few passing
references in this chapter, as in the one
on global governance. But the authors
miss out on a detailed treatment of
pandemics, exemplified by the current
COVID-19 crisis, as both a product of
and a threat to globalisation. To be fair
however, they are hardly the only promi-
nent voices not to have taken this topic
seriously enough prior to the crisis.
The cyberdomain, it is argued, is
increasingly vital in matters of security,
economics and civil liberties, and its in-
creased fragmentation and weaponisa-
tion is ‘deeply dismaying’. This chapter
contains some of the most informative
and well-structured arguments of the
volume. Finally, the normative plane of
international relations is also undergo-
ing flux. The high points of Wilsonian
liberalism have given way to great
power competition, and optimism about
the rise of China has given way to worry,
assert the authors in this historically
rich treatment. In closing, an argument
is made for India as a normative power
that has something unique to offer.
This argument acts as a bridge to
the final chapter dwelling on the Indian
imperative in this time of major flux.
An optimistic argument is provided—
India’s location and its commitment to
democracy, multiculturalism, ending
poverty and upholding international
law can inject a healthy dose of sanity in
an otherwise fraught world. Although
one wishes this were true, domestic
trends in India are only increasing
political polarisation and constrain-
ing its democracy, even as the country
enters what appears to be a structural
economic slowdown. The COVID-19
pandemic is certain to further limit
India’s chances of escaping the lower-
middle income trap. India appears to
be getting weaker, not stronger, and
its relations with important countries
such as Iran, Bangladesh and Indonesia
are coming under strain. Much as the
authors may wish it, their vision of a be-
nign and influential India shaping the
global order is unlikely to come about if
these trends continue. n
Sarang Shidore is senior research analyst
at the University of Texas at Austin and a
geopolitical risk consultant
 GL ASSHOUSE

KHAN IS KING
The Nostradamus of the
S
hah Rukh Khan hasn’t had a hit in years, but his
COVID-19 relief work has been a superhit in three
states—Delhi, where he hails from; Maharashtra,
where he lives; and West Bengal, whose brand ambassador
Indian Stock Market
he is. Khan made a donation to the Maharashtra Chief
Minister’s Relief Fund and his Meer Foundation provided
50,000 PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits to
healthcare workers in Bengal. Khan is feeding 5,500
families for a month in Mumbai and providing basic
essentials to 2,500 daily wagers in Delhi. Wife Gauri
has opened the doors of her four-storey office for the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to set up a quarantine
centre for children, women and the elderly. The chief
ministers of all three states tweeted their thanks for the
relief efforts. King Khan rules again.

LAKSHMI NARAYANAN SUNDARAM

Research Analyst (SEBI Certified)

I
t was the period between 2008 and early 2019. The Indian stock market was
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

steadily recovering after the recession in 2008. In fact industry insiders firmly
believed that investor wealth was witnessing organic growth; the same was

MAGAZINE KING showcased by stock market indexes at NIFTY and SENSEX. The overall mood was
quite bullish considering the sustained recovery over a 11 year period. Yet there
was one forecast which was not only bearish in nature but also bold and bordered
on the preposterous at that point of time. The seemingly audacious forecast
was made by Lakshmi Narayanan Sundaram, a renowned Indian Stock Market
Research analyst and Managing Director of International Financial Services,
a fiscal advisory and solutions firm with a formidable market presence. He
forecasted that the stock market will witness a crash in 2019 whose magnitude
Poll Position will equal the one that occurred in 2008.
Lakshmi Narayanan Sundaram made an accurate forecast in 2019 which came

P rime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to Indians

to switch off lights for nine minutes on April 5
and light diyas, candles and flashlights found an
enthusiastic response among his party’s opponents in
Bihar. Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Rabri Devi and
Tej Pratap Yadav joined the show of solidarity, but in a
twist, the mother-son duo flashed lanterns—the RJD
symbol. Assembly polls are just months away in Bihar.
Talk of killing two birds with one stone.
SONU KISHAN
true as the stock market experienced a sharp decline in the year. NIFTY fell to a
minimum 7000 level validating the forecast made by the fiscal analyst. He had
also advised investors and traders to adopt a judicious approach to mitigate the
impending market risks following the crash. His systematic analysis enabled a lot
of players involved in stock market transactions to avoid accruing losses. Till date
his prediction which came true in 2019 stands as a testimony to his immaculate
analytical skills. Talking about the same, he avers “I am a firm believer in making
forecasts leveraging the unique synergy of fundamental and technical analysis.
Accurate forecasts help foster a sense of trust and credibility in the stock market
ecosystem which is highly volatile. While it’s nigh impossible to stabilize the
functional dynamics of the stock market business, near accurate forecasts
do definitely help in minimizing the unpredictability linked risks.” Lakshmi
Narayanan Sundaram is a seasoned and a SEBI Certified Stock Market research &
analysis professional backed by rich experience and hands-on expertise. He has
had stints with various blue chip firms including ICICI Securities, HDFC Securities,

GEOJIT Securities, KARVY Stock Broking, IIFL Stock Broking etc. He is an exponent
of the fine art of seamlessly integrating the rudimentary operational elements
of stock markets, precise research and incisive analysis to mitigate market risks.
Considering the inevitable dependence of the broader business spectrum on the
stock market ecosystem, the services of professionals like Lakshmi Narayanan
—Sandeep Unnithan with Suhani Singh
and Amitabh Srivastava
Sundaram are indispensable.
UPFRONT
BOOKS
DYSFUNCTIONAL
NATION
By Siddiq Wahid
S
ince the British withdrawal
from South Asia, modern
nation-state-building in the
region has been a fraught ex-
MAGAZINE KING
ercise for India and Pakistan and, lat-
terly, Bangladesh and the other South
Asian states. Modern India’s “official
history” (to borrow Perry Anderson’s
term) exalts her adoption of liberal de-
mocracy and a republican constitution.
Thicker political histories describe
the project as a complex, multifaceted
task, deficit in many regions and the
jury still out. Both narratives can
be buoyed, but there is considerable
room for critiques of the adoption of a
copy-paste modernist state between
1947 and 1950. Indeed, the discourse
on how to weld a steel-frame that will
achieve the easily cited claim of the
Indian state as a “unity in diversity” of
nations is far from over.
Political scientist Sanjib Baruah’s
latest book, In the Name of the Nation:
India and its Northeast, dives into the
debris of the mid-20th century ver-
sion of Brexit; a decision, he observes,
made “only ten weeks before” the event.
Although his focus is on India’s north-
eastern states, Baruah offers enormous
insights into the causes of intensify-
ing resistance, armed or otherwise, to
harshly centralised political decision-
making in India. The grasp of compara-
14 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
IN THE NAME OF
THE NATION
India and its Northeast
by Sanjib Baruah
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
`1,534 (Kindle);
338 pages
tive politics that informs the author’s
analyses also contributes towards an
understanding of increasing authori-
tarianism in South Asia and beyond.
Hard-state values, we discover,
were sown early in India’s postcolonial
political life. In the Himalayan context,
Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s paragon
of liberality, was among the first to
support the AFSPA regime (p. 174-5).
Furthermore, Nehru outlines the duties
of the custodians of civil law with an as-
tounding advocacy: “The police should
also be a nationalist force” (p. 169). It is
a statement that would do today’s Delhi
and Uttar Pradesh police proud.
Dogged analysis is powerful, as
illustrated by Baruah’s insightful
chapters—‘The Strange Career of the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act’ and
‘The Discourse of Insurgency and the
Pedagogy of State Violence’. In the
same vein is his analysis of the paradox
of Irom Sharmila’s 16-year hunger
BARUAH OFFERS
INSIGHTS INTO
CAUSES OF INCREAS-
ING RESISTANCE TO
INDIA’S CENTRALISED
DECISION-MAKING
strike and her defeat as a candidate for
Manipur’s state assembly. Her defeat
had less to do with her than with
Manipur’s perception of democracy
which, Baruah convincingly argues,
“must be read as a symptom of a crisis
of legitimacy of India’s representative
institutions.” (p. 185)
These are some of the nuggets of
praxis analysed in the book. But its
seminal contribution is sharp insights
from history and comparative politics
that shed light on what is happening
today. The J&K Re-organisation Act,
for example, echoes the 1971 North-
Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act,
which had dismantled Assam and
was inspired by a “racially-inflected”
othering that reflected colonial fears,
an argument adopted by Sardar Patel
to establish “a frame of ethnoterrito-
riality” (p 28). The CAA-NPR-NRC
regimen seems to be similarly inspired,
leading to selective dispossession of
territory and citizenship. The common
motivation of all these acts—greater
political centralisation.
That leads us to a crucial (implicit)
message of the book: the two and a half
years it took to draft India’s Constitu-
tion was a task performed at breakneck
speed. This was because the exercise
was in the interest of transfer of power,
but not translated for a deeply histori-
cal peoples. Instead, power was merely
transferred, legally centralised and
relentlessly deployed for the next seven
decades. Unsurprisingly, it has resulted
in political inequity for large swathes of
India and a dysfunctional South Asia.
The danger of punitive centralisa-
tion, which is India’s current trajectory,
is that in politics, as in physics, centrifu-
gal forces unleash centripetal dynamics.
Whether India continues to centralise
or initiates much-needed considerate
(serious) dialogue remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, In the Name of the Nation
is an extraordinarily rewarding read for
policy-makers and citizens alike. n
Siddiq Wahid is professor and scholar-
in-residence for Central Eurasian
history at Shiv Nadar University
 POINT OF V IEW
SUCCOUR FOR THE
MOST VULNERABLE
By Reetika Khera
T
he coronavirus pandemic, possibly the
greatest disruption since World War II,
is also a great opportunity for a radical
reset of state priorities. WW-II, which destroyed
nations, also became a springboard to create a
new society. For example, Britain put in place the
National Health Service (NHS), which provides
universal access to healthcare. Other west
European countries instituted social security
mechanisms—providing for unemployment
doles—while simultaneously corralling the
workforce into an organised sector, thereby also
widening the tax base. As people began to see the
returns from taxes they paid—in the form of free
education, health, social security and pensions—
governments were able to levy taxes in the
range of 30-50 per cent. It’s worth reminding
readers that the high rates of taxation had no
MAGAZINE KING detrimental effect on the entrepreneurial drive.
Today, India faces a threefold crisis: a
severely underfunded healthcare system, trying
to deal with the corona pandemic; an economy
paralysed by the ‘lockdown’; and a humanitarian
crisis as a result of the abrupt, overnight break.
Among India’s employed, less than a fifth (17
per cent) have salaried jobs; many more (about
a third) are casual labourers and about half are
self-employed. For many non-salaried people,
the lockdown is far more threatening than the
risk of contracting the disease. Indeed, in the
very first week of the lockdown, we have collated
reports of nearly a hundred deaths from hunger,
heat, exhaustion, suicide etc.
The In other countries that ordered a lockdown,
coronavirus most have salaried employment and/ or access to
pandemic social security or unemployment benefits. Those
has exposed are countries, France and Germany, for example,
India’s where the government has been spending 8-10
per cent of GDP on healthcare; in India, on the
underfunded
other hand, the government spends barely 1 per
welfare state, cent on health. In that sense, the strategy to lock
especially down caters to a section of Indian society that
public has economic staying power and can deal with
healthcare. the consequences of a lockdown. For a much
This is a larger swathe of its population, the 76 per cent
moment to classified as ‘vulnerable employment’ in the
radically reset World Development Indicators, 2019, staying
state priorities home in cramped spaces is not only a health
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE
hazard but also economically ruinous—if they
don’t earn, they can’t eat, let alone pay rents.
For this lot, food security comes first. The
government’s decision to double PDS rations
for three months is a welcome announcement.
But to benefit from it, these workers have to first
reach home. Before announcing the lockdown,
the government should have thought on its
feet and assured them of temporary shelter (in
schools and community halls, for example) and
food (through community kitchens). And what
better use could there be of the current excess
food stock—at 3.5 times buffer norms? It’s
still not late to open up the Food Corporation
of India (FCI) granaries for people who are
stranded away from home.
By way of supporting India’s most vulnerable
in this dire situation, the Centre needs to provide
food and beef up cash support. Giving Rs 1,500,
in three instalments, to female Jan Dhan Yojana
account holders is not enough. For MNREGA
workers, the government should give 10 days
worth of wages for the coming three months,
while worksites are closed for risk of community
transmission; later, they should be assured of
work. The Centre’s contributions to old-age
pensions have been stuck at a meagre
Rs 200 a month—this too needs to go up.
The central government can also learn
from various state initiatives to offer free meals,
temporary shelters, free transport, waiver
of bills and repayments, among other relief
measures. To tide over this health emergency
and to ensure that no one is denied treatment,
governments might consider taking over more
private hospitals (Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh
have taken over a few already). It’s time to ack-
nowledge that not prioritising our healthcare
systems was a big, big mistake, and we must
resolve to change that. If higher GDP growth
rates are the be-all and end-all of economic
activity, it will do us well to understand that
expanding healthcare facilities has the same
effect on GDP as manufacturing defence aircraft
or building flyovers. n
Reetika Khera is a development
economist at IIM Ahmedabad
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 15
 THE BIG STORY
TABLIGHI JAMAAT

THE
TAINT OF
CORONA
The Tablighi Jamaat bears
the brunt of a nationwide

MAGAZINE KING
hunt. Its followers’ unwitting
role in the COVID-19 super-
spread has made them
targets of fear and loathing
By Uday Mahurkar and Sandeep Unnithan

A
week into the national lockdown, the 1,400-strong workforce at the
Haldia riverine port near Kolkata had been on edge. Incoming mer-
chant ships, port officials feared, would bring in the novel coronavirus.
There weren’t enough masks or protective equipment to go around
even as the port, being an essential service, continued operations.
Then, on April 3, panic set in. Mohammed Bilal, 38, one of the workers
at the general cargo berth, tested positive for COVID-19. Operations
at eastern India’s largest port complex ground to a halt—eight port
officials who had come in contact with Bilal were home-quarantined;
three others, including an employee at the canteen, were confined to a
port guesthouse hastily turned into a quarantine facility. Operations at the port,
officials say, have been hit since then—only one cargo vessel has been moving in
each day instead of the usual six.
Port officials say Bilal was tracked down by ‘government agencies’ and forced
to undergo a COVID-19 test by port authorities. This was after it emerged that he
was a member of the Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamic evangelical movement whose
REUTERS

16 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
MAGAZINE KING

EAGLE EYE
Men, who officials say attended the
Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi and
other religious gatherings, being shifted to
a quarantine facility in Ahmedabad
THE BIG STORY
TABLIGHI JAMAAT
congregation at its global head-
quarters in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in
the first half of March has turned
out to be a source of coronavirus
infection across the country—from
Jammu and Kashmir to Telangana
and Rajasthan to Assam.
Bilal was among the estimated
3,500 people who attended the
convention at the Jamaat’s Niza-
muddin markaz. On return, he
resumed work as a berth supervi-
sor at the Haldia Port. Bilal is now
being treated for COVID-19 at a
government hospital.
W
hen the Delhi police inter-
vened on April 1 to have
the markaz evacuated, it
had already turned into a
disease cluster, reporting
six COVID-19 cases on March 28.
Around 2,361 people were shifted
MAGAZINE KING
out in a 36-hour-long operation; 617
out of them were ferried in buses
and quarantined on the outskirts
of Delhi. The area was cordoned
off and the Jamaat headquarters
sanitised and sealed. Many Jamaat
members who had dispersed to-
wards the end of March had become
vectors of COVID-19, carrying the
disease with them to villages, towns
and cities across India.
“There has been a surge of over
30 per cent in coronavirus cases
because of the Tablighi Jamaat,”
Lav Agrawal, joint secretary in the
Union ministry for health and fam-
ily welfare, grimly told the media
on April 4. In Uttar Pradesh, Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath said that
168 of his state’s 343 COVID-19
cases were connected to the Tab-
lighi Jamaat. One of the fallouts
of the virus spread has been calls
for the Jamaat to be banned—a
petition filed by a Hindu Mahas-
abha activist in the Supreme Court
has sought a complete ban on the
organisation’s activities.
The Tablighi Jamaat is not
under the scanner in India alone. It
18 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
UNDER FIRE
Maulana Muhammad
Saad Kandhlawi
has been accused of being super-
spreaders of the coronavirus in oth-
er countries as well. Pakistan has
placed the entire town of Raiwind,
south of Lahore, under quaran-
tine—this was where over 200,000
Jamaat activists gathered mid-
March. In Malaysia, a late February
gathering of some 16,000 Jamaat
followers led to the detection of 620
COVID-19 cases a week later.
The reasons for the spread are
not difficult to understand. Jamaat
gatherings bring thousands of
followers in close social proxim-
ity—eating, praying and living in
crowded dormitories. Jamaat activ-
ists also travel frequently to preach,
thus increasing the risk of spread.
Maulana Muhammad Saad
Kandhlawi, the leader of the or-
ganisation that claims to have over
100 million followers worldwide,
including 25 million in India alone,
has now gone into self-quarantine at
an undisclosed location. The Delhi
police have filed an FIR against the
maulana and the crime branch has
issued two notices to him to appear
before them. As of April 3, the Union
home ministry said, nearly 22,000
Tablighi Jamaat members and their
primary contacts had been quar-
antined across the country. Several
states, including Punjab, have issued
notices, asking the Tablighis to step
forward and identify themselves.
ROVING PREACHERS
‘A small pucca mosque, a shed, a
living apartment and a few Mewati
and non-Mewati students’ was all
WHO ARE THE
TABLIGHIS?
A global orthodox Islamic evangelical
movement that originated in India
1 Founded by: Deoband cleric Maulana
Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi in 1926
2 Places of origin: Nizamuddin in New
Delhi and Mewat in Haryana
3 Why it was launched: To bring
‘wayward’ Muslims on the path of the
Jamaat’s puritanical interpretation of Islam
and counter an Arya Samaj movement aimed
at reconverting Muslims to Hinduism
4 Core beliefs: Nationalism divides
Muslims, whose mission, according to
the Jamaat, is to make the world adopt Islam.
Maulana Muhammad Yusuf, the Jamaat’s
second emir (chief), reportedly said in 1965
during a tour of Pakistan: “Words like my
nation, my region and my people lead to
disunity among Muslims, and God disap-
proves of them more than anything else.” The
Jamaat despises Emperor Akbar for being
sympathetic towards Hindus and floating the
Din-i Ilahi religion
5 Traditional attire: Long Pathani
kurta with ankle-length salwar, turban;
members sport flowing beard without
moustache. Professionals, however, can
wear modern clothes
6 Organisational structure: The emir
heads the Jamaat at the national level
and governs with the help of a shoora
(governing council). Same for the district and
tehsil level units. Members have to commit a
specific number of days in a year for
preaching activities outside their areas. The
Nizamuddin markaz finalises the placements
7 Presence in India: Some 25 million
followers in 600 out of the 644 districts
in the country
8 Global presence: More than 100
million followers across 160 countries
9 Terror links: Post 9/11, investigators in
the West found several connections
between Tablighi followers and the terror
attacks in Europe, Central Asia and Pakistan
10 Funding: Mainly through individual
donations by way of zakat, an obligatory
contribution by Muslims for charitable
causes and propagation of Islam. Police
sources say a large part of the donations
come through hawala channels
 4,714 1,445
NATIONWIDE CRACKDOWN cases
related to
Tablighi
attendance at last month’s Nizamuddin congregation or face legal action Jamaat

JAMMU & KASHMIR HIMACHAL UTTAR PRADESH ASSAM

Contact-tracing under
way on war footing. Six
persons who stayed in
Nizamuddin and tested
positive quarantined.
HARYANA
Five villages in Haryana
have been sealed for
having been visited by
Tablighis; 74 positive
patients till April 6, 44 of
them Tablighis. April 8
was set as deadline for
self-declaration.
GUJARAT
Has received a list
from the central
government of 1,350
names at the congre-
gation; of these,
1,287 persons had
already been traced;
now, 103 more have
been traced
PRADESH Close to 1,500 Tablighis Some 128 Jamaat
Police plan to who attended Delhi meet returnees at large in
register attempt identified, over 1,200 state; govt plans to
to murder cases quarantined; 159 test posi- register cases for
against Tablighi tive. The state government wilful disobedience
members for hiding has asked Tablighi Jamaat under Disaster Man-
attendance at the members to come forward agement Act
Delhi congregation or face action under the
Epidemic Diseases Act
CHHATTISGARH
FIR filed against 16 Tab-
lighi Jamaat members
TELANGANA
Of the 1,200 people
who attended Delhi
event, six died; 960
foreign Tablighi Jamaat
members blacklisted,
visas cancelled. More
than 300 activists test
positive for COVID-19
ANDHRA PRADESH
while others quar-
All 946 who attended the Delhi antined in different
event and returned to AP as centres.
well as 626 of their contacts
identified and tested; 32 test
positive

MAHARASHTRA
MAGAZINE KING
Legal action taken
against 35 Tablighi
members, including
29 foreigners
KERALA
Of the 300 suspected
of having attended the
Tablighi gathering, only
KARNATAKA
Some 1,000 people linked to Tab-
lighis screened, 11 test positive.
District administrations asked to
TAMIL NADU
Of the total 690
COVID-19 cases in the
state, 574 have links to
80 are deemed to have identify, quarantine members; 78 the Tablighi congrega-
returned to Kerala identified and screened so far. tion in Delhi

Tablighi Jamaat founder Maulana
Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi inher-
ited after his older brother passed away
in 1915. Described in a 1978 biography
of his, this location, near the shrine of
Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, was the
ideal setting for the Deoband cleric to
launch the Tablighi Jamaat, Arabic for
‘the group that propagates the faith’,
in 1926. After bringing the Mewatis,
a community of Muslim Rajputs in
modern Haryana, back into the Tab-
lighi fold, the maulana expanded the
Jamaat across the Indian subcontinent.
The missionaries, or Tablighis, can
be easily identified by their attire and
appearance—long Pathani kurtas with
salwars grazing the ankles, distinc-
tive turbans with sashes, and flowing
beards with shaved upper lips.
Maulana Kandhlawi held proselyti-
sing to be as vital as the Umrah, the
pilgrimage to Mecca. Little has changed
since then—the Tablighis still go among
Muslims, urging them to offer namaaz
five times a day, sport Islamic attire
and avoid ‘un-Islamic’ practices such
as worshipping at the tombs of Muslim
saints. The communal riots during
India’s Partition, in which the Mewatis
bore the brunt of violence, strengthened
the Tablighi movement and got it many
adherents even as the organisation took
on the Sufis or the Barelvis. “Riots work
as fodder for the Tablighi Jamaat in its
exercise to eclipse Sufism,” says Man-
zoor Raza Qadri, a Sufi preacher from
Seoni in Madhya Pradesh.
It was Kandhlawi’s son Maulana
Muhammad Yusuf who expanded the
movement outside India to Pakistan,
Southeast Asia and Europe in the
’70s. A decade ago, several prominent
members of the Pakistan cricket team,
including captain Inzamam-ul-Haq,
were Tablighi Jamaat adherents. The
organisation’s movements, though, are
restricted in Saudi Arabia and Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,
which endorse their own brands of
puritanical Sunni Islam—Salafism
and Wahhabism.
“The Tablighi Jamaat has a sense
of other-worldliness. It operates with
a sense of exclusivity as being the only
ones doing God’s work,” says Adil
Rasheed, a research scholar at the New
Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Insti-
tute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
The organisation was banned in Russia

A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 19
THE BIG STORY INTERVIEW
TABLIGHI JAMAAT
“The argument that Jamaat
in 2009 and security forces there
routinely carry out raids, arresting its
members are hiding, resisting
preachers. The group has also been
banned in the Muslim-majority former
Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Ta-
detention is misplaced”
jikistan and Uzbekistan and is viewed Tablighi Jamaat counsel FUZAIL AYYUBI spoke to
with suspicion by western intelligence MAIL TODAY’S Gulam Jeelani on the controversies
agencies, which see it as a breeding surrounding the organisation and its congregation
ground for extremism.
at the Nizamuddin markaz. Excerpts:

T
he Tablighi Jamaat leader-
ship has never endorsed
terrorism, but several of its
followers are known to have
launched terrorist groups—
Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Mau-
lana Masood Azhar being a case in
point. Analysing the organisation in
an article in 2006, French security
expert Marc Gaborieau wrote: ‘The
Jamaat’s ultimate objective is noth-
ing short of a planned conquest of the
world in the spirit of jihad. Perhaps 80

MAGAZINE KING
per cent of the extremists in France
come from amongst the ranks of the
Tablighi Jamaat. European security
officials call the Tablighi Jamaat an
“antechamber of fundamentalism”.’ In
2003, the FBI’s international terror-
ism wing wrote of Al Qaeda as ‘using
the Tablighi Jamaat for recruiting now
and in the past’.
In its birthplace in India, the move-
ment has thrived, barring occasional ef-
forts to curb its activities. As the home
minister of Gujarat, Amit Shah had,
on one occasion, enabled the deporta- spread—‘criminal negligence’ as Delhi The Jamaat has so far largely flown
tion of a dozen Yemeni Tablighi Jamaat chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called it. below the radar. “This is because it is
preachers on technical grounds. On an apolitical organisation, but narrow-
another occasion, Shah helped save a SECURITY THREAT minded and obscurantist,” says a senior
dargah Jamaat activists were allegedly OR ASSET? Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer. Indian
trying to take over in Navsari, Gujarat. It took the March 31 visit by National security experts point to instances
However, Shah’s Union home Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval to when Jamaat followers stopped youths
ministry, to which the Delhi police the Nizamuddin markaz to convince from becoming terrorists or convinced
report, had been slow in taking action the Jamaat leadership to disperse those who had joined terrorist ranks to
when the Jamaat’s congregation at the and allow police and health workers abandon violence. This came to light
Nizamuddin markaz continued despite to enter the premises. Doval report- when police contacted parents of In-
the Delhi government’s March 13 order edly maintains excellent ties with the dian youths who had joined the Islamic
restricting large gatherings. The group’s group’s leadership. The Jamaat’s vast State terror group.
initial wariness in scaling down the global network of preachers apparently The Union government, sources
event or informing the state govern- gives India’s security establishment an say, has repeatedly rejected offers
ment about the numbers of its infected insight into several countries of inter- from Sufi or Barelvi groups to join
adherents played a part in the virus est, particularly in the Islamic world. hands against Wahhabi-like move-

20 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
Q. The Tablighi Jamaat has been
accused of wilfully concealing
COVID-19 cases at the Nizamud-
din markaz and causing the
spread of the virus. Does the
Jamaat take moral responsibility
for this?
A. It is unfortunate that infections
spread because of the congregation
at the markaz. But the whole move-
ment is being projected in an unfair
manner. It is on record that we
followed the restrictions put in place
since March 22, when the ‘Janta
Curfew’ was observed. We have
taken every step to act as prudent
citizens of the country.
Q. By holding the congregation,
did the Jamaat not flout the Delhi
government’s order barring
large gatherings?
A. Yes, a Delhi government order on
March 13 did ban gatherings of over
200 people, and another order on
March 16 prohibited gatherings of
more than 15 people. But nowhere
in the orders did the government
specify that no gathering could take
place at all. Many people, from India
MAGAZINE KING
and abroad, were present at the
markaz. Whose responsibility was it
to ensure their safety?
Q. Why are Jamaat members
hiding or resisting being
quarantined?
A. The argument that Jamaat
members are hiding or resisting
ments like the Tablighi Jamaat. The
sources say the soft approach towards
the Jamaat and its parent body, the
Deoband school, is part of the Modi
government’s strategy to contain ter-
rorism. Not everyone, though, seconds
such a strategy. A source in the Indian
security establishment says: “Can-
cer should be finished, not tolerated
for other larger objectives.” Another
source, however, differs: “Using a
carrot-and-stick policy with an organ-
isation whose reach is phenomenal
and then weakening its hold over the
masses is the correct strategy.”
This perhaps explains why the
Jamaat has continued its activities
detention is misplaced. Right from
the start, Jamaat chief Maulana
Saad and others have been urging
followers not to hide their travel his-
tory and—wherever they may be—to
approach health authorities and
comply with the protocols in place.
Q. The Jamaat does not of-
ficially promote extremism or
terrorism. But law enforcement
agencies across the world have
found instances of its activists
being involved in acts of terror.
A. If you look at the history of the
movement globally, there has not
been one incident [of terrorism
or extremism] attributed to the
Tablighi movement.
Q. Where is Maulana Saad
and when will he end his self-
quarantine? He is thought to be
leading an ostentatious life—with
several homes and luxury cars—
while preaching austere living to
his followers.
A. Maulana Saad is under home-
quarantine and has been coop-
erating with the law enforcement
agencies. Regarding the FIR [against
him], the police are yet to summon
him. The only notice he has received
is under section 91 of CrPc, which
asks an accused to submit docu-
ments and other information. The
investigation is proceeding step by
step. I do not believe Maulana Saad
leads a lavish life.
OTHER
DEOBANDI
GROUPS FEAR
THE JAMAAT’S
TRANSGRESSIONS
ARE GIVING THE
CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC A
SECTARIAN HUE
unhindered and attracted none of the
attention foreign evangelical groups
have in India. Thousands of Jamaat
preachers have, over the past few years,
entered the country on tourist visas in
blatant violation of norms. Preachers
require a separate missionary permit
where they have to explicitly state that
they are travelling for proselytising.
In the wake of the COVID-19
spread, it was the intelligence agencies
that had begun tracking the Jamaat
activists spilling out of Nizamuddin and
into the hinterland. On March 29, IB
director Arvind Kumar told state police
chiefs to trace the movement of Tablighi
Jamaat members in their respective
states and conduct contact-tracing and
take steps to screen them medically.
It will be interesting to see how, in
the wake of the spread of the disease, the
Modi government deals with the group’s
alleged hawala dealings and evidence
of Maulana Saad’s luxurious lifestyle,
marked by huge bungalows and foreign
luxury cars as opposed to his call to his
followers to live an austere life. The gov-
ernment has already filed cases against
the Jamaat’s foreign missionaries who
had come on tourist visas, impounded
the passports of those still in the country
and banned their future entry.
Post the COVID-19 crackdown, it
may no longer be business as usual for
the Tablighi Jamaat. Representatives of
other Deobandi organisations, such as
the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, are appre-
hensive that the Jamaat’s transgressions
are giving the novel coronavirus pan-
demic a sectarian hue. ‘The unfortunate
incident regarding the Tablighi Jamaat
is being used to demonise and blame the
entire Muslim community,’ the Jamiat
Ulema-e-Hind said in a statement.
The organisation has also moved the
Supreme Court, seeking directives to
the government to stop the dissemina-
tion of coronavirus-related fake news
portraying Muslims in poor light.
Wasim Shaikh, president of the Sunni
Youth Wing, that preaches against
terrorism, says: “The battle between us
and the Wahhabi Tablighis is for the
heart of Islam. If we lose this battle, all
will be lost.” But as the country battles
COVID-19, a lot more than spirituality
and religion could be at stake. n
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 21
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THE HARD R
TO RECOVE
To pull the Indian economy out of the lockdown
government must act boldly. Experts say nothing sh
massive stimulus of 5 per cent of GDP—about Rs 10

By SHWWETA PUNJ AND M.G. ARUN

Illustration by NILANJAN DAS
 COVER STORY

COVID-19 ECONOMY

T
The coronavirus pandemic has offered
countries a tough choice—to either al-
low the disease to eat through the popu-
lation before they achieve herd immu-
nity and slow down the spread, keeping
economic activity largely steady, or opt
for a lockdown to lower disease inci-

MAGAZINE KING dence that can ‘flatten the curve’ and

ease the burden on healthcare facilities,
but at the cost of most economic activ-
ity. India’s choice of the latter—protect-
ing lives over livelihoods—was a dif-
ficult one, as the country was already
in a slowdown mode, clocking just 4.7

OAD
per cent growth in the third quarter of
2019-20. But having bitten the bullet,
and effected a 21-day lockdown, what
matters now is how India crafts an exit
strategy for all business activity if the

RY
lockdown is lifted on April 15.
The government now faces an enor-
mous task—to restart the economy be-
fore industrial paralysis, job losses and
dried-up cash flows become another
cause of death and despair. Former RBI
governor Raghuram Rajan says India is
facing “perhaps its greatest emergency
doldrums, the since Independence”. He points out that
ort of an additional even the 2008-09 global financial crisis
was an extraordinary challenge, “but
lakh crore—will do our workers could still go to work, firms
were coming off years of strong growth,
our financial system was largely sound
and government finances were healthy.
None of this is true today.”
COVER STORY

COVID-19 ECONOMY

THE EXIT STRATEGY

Sources say that hectic preparations are under way
to chalk out an exit strategy. Since the pandemic is
not over, an immediate, nationwide lifting of the
lockdown might end up doing more harm than
good. Nonetheless, the economic paralysis must be
addressed, if only to ensure that essential items like
food and medicines remain available in markets.
And given the interconnected nature of modern
economies—for example, food processing units can-
not operate without agriculture, transport, fuel
and packaging industries—this means that even
if the lockdown is lifted in phases, it is crucial for
interdependent industries to come online sequen-
tially. Secondly, even ‘non-essential’ industries like
automotives and textiles must get back to business
soon, or else job losses and slashed salaries will lead
to a massive population unable to buy essentials.

MAGAZINE KING
Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings,
cautions that in a worst-case scenario, this could
even lead to food riots.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his
ministers to prepare a list of 10 major decisions and
SHEKHAR GHOSH

10 priority areas for each ministry. The government

could even take a staggered approach towards lifting THE GROWTH DOWNTURN
the lockdown, continuing it in so-called ‘hotspots’— Major financial institutions predict a
places where the incidence of the disease has been 0.5-1.5% dip in India’s growth rate
identified in large numbers and which are vulnerable
to community transmission—while opening up the EARLIER FY21 growth
rest of the country. A senior minister, speaking on projections
6.6
condition of anonymity, says that the government
is considering permitting all industries to resume 6.5
operations, as long as strict adherence is maintained
to sanitation and social distancing protocols.
The economic question remains this: how will
the government prioritise the sectors that must be 6.2
restarted immediately? The answer depends heavily
on two factors—which factories produce essential Ba
rc
items (or those necessary for their production), and lay
Fitc OE ’s*
if they are located in hotspots. A small note of cheer 5.9 h CD
is that, as per media reports, only 146 of India’s
M
oo

700-plus districts have reported five or more cases CURRENT

dy
’s

of COVID-19, accounting for 3,266 cases, 80 per

*

cent of the national total of 4,067—and that many 5.6 5.6

major industrial areas have reported very few cases. UB
For instance, Delhi, with the third highest number S
*FY20 projections
5.4
of cases as of April 6, does not figure in the top 20
manufacturing states. Gujarat, with the highest Source: MoSPI, commerce ministry 5.3

5.1
26 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
 WALLED IN
A real estate project site in
Noida Extension, Uttar Pradesh

REAL
ESTATE

7%
The contribution
42%
Y-o-Y dip in housing
of the sector sales, new launches
to GDP in Q1 of 2020-21

52
MILLION
445
THOUSAND
Total jobs in Unsold homes as
real estate sector of Dec. 2019 (Knight
(in 2017) Frank estimate)

MAGAZINE KING
factory output, is ranked at 11 in terms of
COVID-19 incidence.
The National Sample Survey Office’s
Annual Survey of Industries shows there
were 195,584 factories operating in India
“We need to keep in 2017-18, employing 15.6 million people.
Many industrial centres—such as Tiru-
viable small/ pur and Sriperumbudur-Oragadam in
medium firms, Tamil Nadu, Kutch, Jamnagar, Bharuch
which have and Mehsana in Gujarat, Raigad and Au-
rangabad in Maharashtra, Bhilai, Raigarh
suffered shock
and Korba in Chhattisgarh, Rudrapur
after shock, from in Uttarakhand and Baddi in Himachal
closing down. Pradesh—have reported very few cases, say
This needs to be media reports quoting the survey. In theory,
this means that a large percentage of India’s
a careful decision manufacturing output can come online post
as we have April 15 (if sanitation norms are well en-
limited resources. forced), even if they do not produce essential
items. This is where the private sector needs
Similarly for large to play a big role—companies need to figure
firms” out how to make social distancing part and
RAGHURAM RAJAN parcel of the way they do business. Factories
Former RBI governor that have a high level of automation will be
the apt ones to immediately start business.
Maruti Suzuki, for instance, has formed
cross-functional teams to plan and execute
the process. These teams have daily meet-
ings with MD & CEO Kenichi Ayukawa to
take stock of the progress of the prepara-
tions. The company is benchmarking itself
against the best practices adopted in coun-
tries such as China and Japan when it comes
to resuming production by setting up social
distancing protocols. Meanwhile, JSW Steel
is preparing to start operations at its Karna-
taka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu plants
that together can make 18 million tonnes of
steel a year. Nonetheless, D.K. Joshi, chief
economist at Crisil, says, “Restarting the
economy is not simply a matter of switching
it on.” Some sectors, like aviation and hospi-
tality—where social distancing is difficult, if
not impossible—will take months to resume
operations and, in that time, all industries
linked to them will suffer a lack of demand.
Joshi also points out that some sectors
need to resume normal operations imme-

A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 27
COVER STORY

COVID-19 ECONOMY

RIDING OUT
diately—such as agriculture, which contributes
THE STORM
How the lockdown has derailed key industries
around 14 per cent to the GDP and employs about
and what the government can do to give them
50 per cent of the population. With the rabi crop
a fighting chance to bounce back
cycle approaching its end, states are pulling out all
the stops to ensure a successful harvest as that will
be essential for food security and to ensure income
for the rural masses. Some initiatives include door-
step wheat procurement, expedited curfew passes A PPAREL
for farmers, labourers and machinery suppliers, as
well as plans for staggered entry permits for farmers AND TEXTILES
to local mandis.
IMPACT as exports decline
❱ Textile exports will be hit
next few quarters
STAGGERING BUSINESSES ❱ With lockdown in China,
PRESCRIPTION
❱ Extend tax compliance
man-made fibre imports deadlines, review taxes
Businesses now find themselves between a rock
to cost more, pushing up ❱ Reduce interest rates,
and a hard place. A survey by CII (Confederation of
prices of finished goods facilitate loans for credit-
Indian Industry) of 200 CEOs revealed that most
expect revenues to fall by over 10 per cent, and prof- ❱ 10-12% dip in textile/ worthy MSMEs
its by more than 5 per cent, in the two quarters from apparel production ❱ Tax reliefs to
January to June 2020. More than half predict job ❱ Fabric production to dip encourage spending
losses. Many say that despite the appeals not to lay

MAGAZINE KING
off workers or cut salaries, the lockdown has dried
up their cash flows, leaving them with no choice.
“We are requesting our members not to lay off em-
ployees,” says Vikram Kirloskar, president of CII.
However, some firms are already edging toward
that. For instance, SpiceJet, which has had to cancel
all commercial flights, has reportedly announced a AUTO AND AUTO
10-30 per cent salary cut, while Air India is consid-
ering cutting salaries by 5 per cent. COMPONENTS
A senior minister, speaking on condition of ano-
nymity, says that between 1.5 million and 2 million IMPACT defer GST payments
jobs are at risk. Some of this is already visible: a ❱ Expect production ❱ Build trust by suspend-
survey by CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian shutdowns across the ing tax audits
Economy) says that the unemployment rate in the country
❱ Give wage subsidy to
last week of March was 23.8 per cent. This metric ❱ Liquidity crunch due small firms or income
had been on the rise even before the lockdown and to problems in NBFCs/ support to contract work-
stands at 8.7 per cent for the month of March. ‘This banking sector ers for three months
is the highest unemployment rate in [almost four ❱ Disruption in raw mate- ❱ Allow OEMs (original
years]... since September 2016,’ wrote Mahesh Vyas, rial supply from China and equipment manufactur-
the firm’s CEO, on its website. shortage of labour ers) to operate with exist-
A major issue for firms is simply a lack of cash. ❱ Big drop likely in con- ing approvals/ licences for
“If you look at the BSE 500, there are 100-odd sumer vehicle purchases six more months
companies that have cash, while 400 have debt,”
❱ Global slowdown to af- ❱ Repayment support
says Nilesh Shah, MD of Kotak Mahindra Asset
fect exports scheme for auto/ related
Management. “For every company that has a cash
firms, especially MSMEs
surplus, there are 4-5 borrowers. There is a seri-
ous cash crunch coming—[everyone] from retail PRESCRIPTION ❱ Postpone switch to
BS-VI emission norms by
companies to a power plants to steel plants will face ❱ Offer GST rate cuts,
at least a quarter
challenges.” He says there is no option but for the
government to go in for a fiscal stimulus. “This is a

28 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
 AVIATION
AND TOURISM
IMPACT tion turbine fuel (currently
❱ Widespread cancella- up to 30%) to a maximum
tions due to the ban on of 4% for six months
domestic and interna- ❱ Offer 12-month morato-
tional travel rium on loan repayments
❱ Projected loss of ❱ Waive property/ excise
Rs 8,200 crore due to duties, reduce power
restricted foreign tourist tariffs, defer recovery
arrivals (Indian Associa- of GST dues
tion of Tour Operators)
❱ Consider long-term GST
❱ Layoffs, salary cuts in holiday for tourism and
white and blue-collar jobs travel services
❱ Allow consumers to
PRESCRIPTION avail their travel bookings
❱ Rationalise VAT on avia- up to 12 months later
CHEMICALS &
PETROCHEMICALS
MAGAZINE KING
IMPACT units and Petroleum,
❱ Medium to long-term Chemical and Petrochem-
outlook uncertain as end- ical Investment Regions
consumer demand falls
❱ Flexible working capital
❱ Global drop in demand loans for small/ medium
and supply chain re- scale units
strictions to hit exports ❱ Review import tariffs on
(currently less than 15%
essential feedstock for
of total production)
chemical firms
❱ Review free trade pacts
PRESCRIPTION and anti-dumping duties
❱ Tax incentives, power to protect downstream
tariff cuts to production manufacturers
REAL ESTATE AND ❱ FDI flow into commercial
segment to dry up
CONSTRUCTION PRESCRIPTION
IMPACT ❱ Relax RERA compliance
❱ Supply of raw materi- in projects for up to six
als, including cement and months
steel, will be hit
❱ Fix lending rates for
❱ Sharp fall in demand in realty projects at a lower
residential, hospitality
repo rate
and retail segments
❱ Extend NPA classifi-
❱ Expect up to cation beyond 90 days
30% job losses for stressed projects
CONSUMER
GOODS AND RETAIL
IMPACT
❱ Import of raw materials
faces hurdles
❱ Demand for non-essen-
tial goods will be sluggish
❱ Major cash constraints
across sector, except
food and groceries
PRESCRIPTION
❱ Provide rebate on re-
FINANCIAL
SERVICES
IMPACT
❱ Weaker private banks,
co-op banks and small
finance banks to face
liquidity crisis as cus-
tomers shift to stronger
banks
❱ NPAs rise in auto/ auto
ancillaries, travel and
hospitality, retail, real
estate
❱ Consumer credit qual-
ity in affordable housing,
two-wheeler financing
and micro-financing will
take a hit
MSMEs
IMPACT
❱ Fluctuations in raw ma-
terial prices, production
shutdowns and cash flow
constraints
❱ Massive layoffs of
contractual labour
❱ Exports to COVID-
affected Europe and
the US will continue to
remain affected
payment of loan interest
and principal
❱ Get banks, NBFCs to
extend credit limits for
small retailers
❱ Cut duties, allow im-
ports of goods critical to
retail markets
❱ Open markets/ malls in
a phased manner while
continuing to observe
social distancing norms
PRESCRIPTION
❱ Regulatory support on
asset classification, for-
bearance period of up to
nine months for stressed
assets
❱ Make resolution frame-
work more practical to
insulate businesses from
defaults and insolvencies
❱ Defer Prompt Correc-
tive Action (PCA) for 12
months
❱ One-time restructuring
window across all busi-
nesses
PRESCRIPTION
❱ Defer deposit of ad-
vance tax by six months
❱ Credit GST and other
tax refunds to businesses
immediately
❱ Extend the exemption
of MSMEs from NPA clas-
sification till June
❱ Government can share
salary burden upto 50%
Source: KPMG India, Industry reports
COVER STORY

COVID-19 ECONOMY

GETTY IMAGES MILIND SHELTE

THE FARM OFFENSIVE

MAGAZINE KING
Agriculture, which accounts for 14% of India’s GDP,
tops the government’s priorities in terms of getting the
economy going again—even while it fine-tunes strategies
long battle. Many, many industries will require
support, otherwise [we will see] assets being
sold to foreign investors.”
to contain the spread of COVID-19. India has an esti-
mated 200 million farmers and nearly half the population
A Noida-based exporter laments that all of
is engaged in this sector, directly or indirectly. The rabi their orders to the US and the UK, even those
harvest, a sizeable chunk of the national farm produce, that are currently in transit, are on hold. Pay-
has to be put on track. What makes the disruptions even ment terms are being re-negotiated, from within
more worrisome is that India has a bumper rabi crop this 45 days to four months. “All our working capital
year. A combat strategy has been evolved, featuring both is stuck in fabrics. Banks are not extending any
measures to keep farmers and farm labour safe and even fresh credit and buyers have stopped making any
taking the market to the farmer in some cases where he is payments. We can only afford to pay salaries for
being asked to keep safe distance. Improvisations include: March,” he says.
Across the board, firms are grappling with
lDoorstep wheat pro- chayat land in villages; how to pay salaries and meet operating expenses.
curement Haryana has added They are also unsure if labour will be available
l Staggered entry of 1,800 wheat-collection when operations resume. A staggered lift of the
farmers in mandis centres; Punjab has
lockdown also raises the question of ‘deferred
added more than 3,000
l Rabi procurement dur- vs destroyed demand’. The former includes
ing lockdown (curfew, in lPunjab sets harvest purchases that are put off until the situation
the case of Punjab) hours: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
improves, like consumer durables. Destroyed
l Curfew passes for l Both Punjab and Hary- demand relates to expenses that consumers sim-
farmers, farm labour, ana claim they were able ply do without, like trips to restaurants or movie
machinery suppliers to hold back migrant
halls. “The 21-day lockdown could impact GDP
labour for harvest by
lNew marketplaces by 4 percentage point,” explains Shah. “If this is
creating new facilities;
created in open spaces strengthened (such as by a staggered lift of the
Punjab made 162 shelter
available with rice mills, lockdown), demand keeps getting destroyed.
camps, Haryana 467
cotton factories, pan- We have to ensure that destroyed demand is
minimised, and deferred demand is not deferred

30 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0

UNCERTAIN TIMES
MAGAZINE KING
(Left) Farmers harvest wheat in Ajmer, Rajasthan;
the deserted Mumbai airport
for too long.”
“The government should utilise the
lockdown period to identify the areas that
are virus-free and those that are hotspots,”
says R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti
Suzuki, adding that it should completely
cordon off hotspots to ensure that facto-
ries elsewhere can be brought online. He
also says the government should implement
measures to bring buyers back to the mar-
ket, such as through tax cuts on products.
Since, in all probability, businesses will
reopen in a staggered manner, prioritis-
ing crucial sectors is paramount. This will
also help prevent overcrowding in indus-
trial areas and ensure that social distanc-
ing is maintained. The first priority should
be to ensure smooth supplies to and from
factories producing essential items—food
and dairy, medicines and medical devices
and so on. And as the lockdown is lifted,
firms and factories will need their stocks
of raw materials replenished, which means
that industries that supply them will have
to be brought online first. Meanwhile, state
AVIATION
& TOURISM
2.4%
The contribution of the
aviation sector to GDP
9.2%
The contribution of the
tourism sector to GDP
42.7
MILLION
Jobs in aviation & tourism
$22
BILLION
About Rs 1.67 lakh crore—
losses for global tourism
as a result of the pandemic
Note: $1=Rs 75.9, rate on April 8
governments are pushing logistics com-
panies to normalise their operations and
assist farmers and procurement agencies
in the harvest season. Sources in the trans-
port industry say that only 30-35 per cent
of India’s truck strength is operational at
present—drivers are reluctant to get back
to work for fear of the disease.
Sabnavis says that the period from April “Businesses
to September will be crucial, and that all
efforts should be made to restore business
will not be the
confidence. The economy will be in shut- same in the post-
down mode for at least six months, during COVID world.
which the vulnerable sections of both so-
Companies will
ciety and industry will need support. “An
income tax waiver for individuals and cor- have to take
porates, added to a cut in the Goods and steps to protect
Services Tax (GST) to give a stimulus of not just their
Rs 2 lakh crore should be considered,” he
says, adding that both central and state gov- employees but
ernments should consider increasing the vendors and
fiscal deficit limit up to 10 per cent. Though transporters too”
this will increase inflation, he argues that
this is a manageable problem, as India has R.C. BHARGAVA
been going through a low inflation phase for Chairman, Maruti Suzuki
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 31
WHAT WILL THE
STIMULUS COST?
Rebooting the economy takes resources, and
the government isn’t exactly rolling in the stuff

WHAT THE
GOVERNMENT
EARNS
Govt revenues
`
30.4
5%
HOW MUCH of GDP
LAKH CRORE
MORE IT (constant
NEEDS prices)
which is
Recommended `200 lakh
fiscal stimulus crore

10
(approx.)
`
(Budget FY21 LAKH CRORE
projection, from
tax and non-tax
sources)

MAGAZINE KING
THE CRISIS IN JOBS
POSSIBLE With the business outlook
NEW REVENUE grim across industries, several
agencies—both global and
SOURCES Indian—have made dire forecasts

❱ Expand borrowing for ❱ Unemployment shot up

fiscal 2020-21 (current
planned gross borrowing:
Rs 7.8 lakh crore)
❱ RBI buys government
securities (possibly has
inflationary impact)
❱ RBI buys govt bonds di-
rectly in primary auctions
(it’s empowered to do so
under the national calam-
ity clause of the Fiscal
Responsibility and Budget
Management Act)
❱ Govt avails RBI’s
‘ways and means’
overdraft facility
❱ Falling crude oil prices
could save upto 0.5% of
to 23% in end-March
(from 6.7 per cent mid-
March), says CMIE
❱ A CII survey shows 47%
of CEOs polled estimating
GDP, since the govern-
job cuts at <15%; 32%
ment is not passing ben-
efits on to consumers CEOs said 15-30%
❱ Cut government salaries;
they have gone up by
Spice- Air Fab Fareportal
Rs 10.6 lakh crore in the
Jet India Hotels (US-based
past five years. The last travel firm)
two heads could yield
almost 2% of GDP 30% 5% 20% 100 500
salary salary salary workers
❱ The Rs 1.7 lakh crore cut cut cut laid off laid off in India
stimulus announced is
about 1% of GDP. The
required 4-5% of GDP is Sources: CII survey, ILO, news reports on
about Rs 6 lakh crore company-specific data

GETTY IMAGES
MAGAZINE KING OUT OF GEAR
Trucks stand idle in Bhubaneswar
during the nationwide lockdown
the past few years.
Many of the worst-hit industries are in
the ‘non-essential’ sectors, including avia-
“Unlike the 2008 tion and tourism, hospitality, textiles, au-
global financial tomotives, real estate, construction, retail
and financial services. The problems are
crisis, which myriad, as are the demands for support. For
affected one instance, the automotive sector, already in
major country dire straits, is reeling from the production
lockout and the closing of dealerships. In-
and spread dustry leaders have asked for GST rate cuts
across the world, and deferred payment deadlines and cheap-
this [one] is er auto loans for consumers, among others.
Similarly, firms in the real estate sector have
affecting every asked for a six-month relaxation of RERA
major country (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) compli-
and is a much ance requirements and for an extension of
bigger crisis” the 90-day deadline after which financially-
stressed projects must be classified as NPAs
ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN (non-performing assets) by banks. The Re-
Former Chief Economic tailers Association of India has asked for
Advisor financial support from the government for
COVER STORY
COVID-19 ECONOMY
salaries to limit layoffs—else, the sector may
have to cut payrolls by as much as 20 per
cent. It has also asked for GST relief, as well
as support in paying taxes and loans, among
other things. Industry body CII has asked
for a moratorium on loans for six months
and lower interest rates. Also proposed is
a payout to people hospitalised due to CO-
VID-19 or in quarantine.
WANTED: A BIG STIMULUS
The government’s revival plan should be far-
reaching and no-holds-barred, say experts.
It should aim at getting businesses not just
back on track, but flourishing, ensuring that
they create employment, putting money into
the hands of those at the bottom of the pyr-
amid so that they can get through the rest
of the year without worrying about going
hungry. The revival plan must also build up
India’s manufacturing capabilities to allow
it to benefit from the global opportunities
that will arise in the post-coronavirus world.
To help the poor and non-salaried low-
er middle class, Rajan proposes that the
Centre and the states together implement
a broad-based recovery plan that includes
support for essentials like food, healthcare
and shelter. He also suggests that small
businesses be given more favourable loan
terms. However, this could also be an op-
portunity to introduce socio-economic re-
forms. “It is said that India reforms only in
[times of] crisis,” he says.
The clamour for the government to
spend its way out of the crisis is immense.
Many other countries are attempting the
same—the US passed a rescue package val-
ued at over $2 trillion (roughly 10 per cent
of that country’s GDP), while the UK has
announced one worth £350 billion (about
$430 billion), nearly 15 per cent of its GDP.
Japan has announced a package of almost
$1 trillion (equivalent to 20 per cent of its
GDP), while Singapore is on its third res-
cue package, this one worth $3.6 billion
(around 12 per cent of its GDP).
Some argue the Indian government
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 33
COVER STORY
COVID-19 ECONOMY
should take a line similar to its response to
the 2008 financial crisis. At the time, the
Reserve Bank of India had slashed policy
interest rates from 7 per cent to an effec-
tive low of 3.25 per cent, with the govern-
ment expanding the fiscal deficit limit from
2.5 per cent of GDP in fiscal 2008 to 6 per
cent in fiscal 2009 and 6.5 per cent in fiscal
2010. ‘A s a result, India’s GDP growth rose
to pre-crisis levels in 2010,’ argued Ananth
Narayan, associate professor at the S.P. Jain
Institute of Management and Research, in
a financial daily.
S
hamika Ravi, senior fellow with the
Brookings Institution, points out
that after World War II, there was
a phase of high economic growth
because governments resorted to massive
stimulus measures. Arguing for just such a
bold stimulus—much larger than the Rs 1.7
MAGAZINE KING
“The exit
lakh crore announced by finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26, which
is less than 1 per cent of GDP—she says, “We
need to be putting out a stimulus of 4-5 per
cent of the GDP. The first priority should be
strategy should wages and salaries.” At 5 per cent, we are
talking about a stimulus package of approxi-
be based on mately Rs 10 lakh crore. D.K. Srivastava,
expert medical policy advisor with EY India, makes a simi-
advice. Business lar argument, saying that the relief package
needed to be doubled. “This package is not
should open putting money in the hands of lower income
with caution, groups. We need a very major package.” Ajit
prioritising Ranade, economist and senior fellow at the
Takshashila Institution, also argues for the
health and
same. “We need an immediate stimulus to
safety. Demand act as a safety net for those whose income has
will be an issue; suddenly stopped (like daily wage earners).
incentives for For nearly 90 per cent of our workforce, the
lockdown has meant a loss of income.” He
liquidity will be also says that the government needs to offer
important. It’s the private sector a massive dose of support
easy to re-open via fiscal incentives and economic reforms.
Vijay Kelkar, chairman, and Ajay Shah,
a factory, but it’s professor, at the National Institute of Public
no use if there is Finance and Policy (NIPFP) in Delhi, also
no sale” argue for reform, in an article in a financial
daily. ‘This is a good time to liberalise capi-
VIKRAM KIRLOSKAR tal controls, and to remove barriers faced
President, CII by non-profits, so as to foster the inflow of
34 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
financial and philanthropic capital,’ they
write. They also advocate a ‘linked reform’ of
GST and petroleum pricing, arising from the
opportunity provided by plunging oil prices.
This includes moving the GST into a single
low rate with a universal base, and merging
petroleum products and coal into the GST.
The government appears to be adopting
a strategy of staggered support, based on
how the crisis unfolds. Sources say its first
priority was to protect the most vulnerable,
which is why the stimulus announced by
Sitharaman primarily addressed the lowest
income earners. They say that while the gov-
ernment will adopt a band-aid approach for
sectors that are bleeding the most, it is also
working on using the crisis as an opportuni-
ty to bring in reforms. The government has
also been proactively seeking inputs from
leading economists and policy strategists to
devise its exit strategy from the lockdown.
Several of those who india today spoke
with had also been contacted by the Prime
Minister’s Office to get their assessment of
the crisis. The government did, to be sure,
take up some necessary steps with alacrity.
When the lockdown was announced, Bri-
tannia Industries approached the Centre,
saying that while they had the products,
they didn’t have the packaging materials.
Packaging materials were immediately in-
cluded as part of essential supplies.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has an-
nounced a slew of measures—among them
a 75 basis points (0.75 per cent) cut in the
repo rate, reducing the banks’ cost of funds;
a 1 percentage point cut in the cash reserve
ratio (CRR), which leaves banks with more
money to lend; a three-month moratorium
on term loan repayments; and a deferral
of interest on working capital loans. But
market-watchers say the RBI acted late, and
there is a trust deficit between the central
bank and the market.
While the RBI has pumped in liquidity
of Rs 4 lakh crore and interest rates have
been cut, they have not been passed on to
consumers. Meanwhile, industry is pitch-
ing for an increase in standard withdrawal
limits from 20 per cent to 25 per cent. This
could lead to rising NPAs, but that’s a risk

AUTOMOTIVE
MAGAZINE
9.4%
KING
The contribution of the
auto and auto compo- India should be willing to take at this
nents sector to GDP point, says a market investor. Some have
advocated the RBI print more currency,
44
but Rathin Roy, director at NIPFP, says
Jobs in this should be the last resort, as it can
the sector lead to hyperinflation. “There are con-
siderable unspent balances, which can be
MILLION mobilised and extended to states. A spe-
cific COVID-related ‘consol bond’ (also
52%
called perpetual bond, with no maturity
date) could be considered—and, then, we
may look at other options such as print-
Y-o-Y drop in overall
ing more currency,” he says.
car sales in March 2020 Subhash Chandra Garg, former fi-
nance secretary, says the government
should provide a fiscal package for busi-
47%
nesses and workers. “The March 26 pack-
age targeted the elderly and widows, the
unemployed and rural Indians—they
need the help. But at least 100 million
Y-o-Y drop in car
sales of Maruti Suzuki have lost jobs (in construction, mining,
in March 2020 etc.)—these workers can’t be supported
by their employers, the government must
step in.” Atanu Chakraborty, secretary,
JAISON G
STALLED
Cars at a Toyota dealership
in Chennai on April 7, 2020
Department of Economic Affairs, adds
a caveat: “Even industry has to think in-
novatively. We have to be in reform mode
to speed up the economy.”
Chakraborty’s assertion about re-
forms has many adherents among watch-
ers of the Indian economy. For example,
some think a single-rate GST regime
would be a far-reaching incentive for
industry, others advocate bringing pe-
troleum within the GST ambit. The RBI
could possibly do more for better trans-
mission of interest rate cuts to facilitate
access to credit. And so on. Nearly every
expert we spoke to said this extraordi-
nary crisis requires extraordinary fixes.
All agree this is no time for fiscal con-
servatism—the government must think
bold and spend big, possibly in multi-
ples of what it has done so far. It must
do this to protect both livelihoods and
businesses, big and small—the lifeline of
our economy. n
—with Anilesh S. Mahajan
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 35
NATION CM s AT WORK
LEADING
FROM
THE
FRONT
MAGAZINE KING
ANI
In the war against the
COVID-19 pandemic, state
chief ministers are at the
forefront. And it's a battle
on two fronts, enforcing
lockdowns and keeping fresh
cases in check, while also
striving to avoid an
economic meltdown
By Kaushik Deka
T
he pessimist complains
about the wind. The
optimist expects it to
change. The leader
adjusts the sails,” wrote
American author John
Maxwell. Leaders across the globe are
being tested today on how they plan
to adjust to this new wind—COV-
ID-19—that is threatening mankind’s
very existence. The coronavirus pan-
demic is the biggest existential crisis
human civilisation has faced since
World War II. The only applicable pre-
ventive measure to this deadly virus
is doing something inimical to basic
human instinct—social isolation. The
impact of practising this is not only
psychological but, more devastatingly,
fiscal too. To enforce this strategy of
isolation, Prime Minister Narendra

MAGAZINE KING
Modi has shut down the coun-
try for three weeks.
India, however, is a federal
country, and its real engine
resides in the states. The
responsibility to implement
the lockdown without irre-
versible social and economic
disruptions and to prepare
the country for the financial
consequences of the country
being in stasis for three weeks
lies primarily with state chief
ministers. Several of them are
political heavyweights with
decades of experience. Yet,
even they are overawed by the
scale of the crisis. No amount
of preparation is enough and
the margin of error is non-ex-
istent. The COVID-19 wind is
blowing hot and cold and chief
ministers have had to make
rapid adjustments, mostly in
augmenting health infrastruc-
ture and providing relief to
those worst hit—the poor. They
know the immediate task of
saving lives will be followed by
the bigger challenge of averting
an economic meltdown.
In these extraordinary
times, the personal intervent-
ion of these state chieftains
has also given India’s war
against COVID-19 a new di-
mension. Politics has taken a
backseat, collective welfare is
now the common goal. That’s
perhaps the only silver lining
in this dark cloud engulfing
our world.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS
Maharashtra CM Uddhav
Thackeray maintains social
distance while holding a meeting
at his residence, Varsha
MAHARASHTRA
UDDHAV THACKERAY
TOTAL +CASES 1,297
TOTAL DEATHS 74
Motivating
Factor
W
hen the nationwide
lockdown began on March
25, Maharashtra chief
minister Uddhav Thackeray decided
the situation called for innova-
tive ways to manage the crisis. He
knew he had to lead by example,
make people realise the importance
of social distancing in the battle
against COVID-19. To drive home the
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 37
NATION CM s AT WORK

BEST CHOICE
CM Palaniswami serves
food to customers at an
Amma Canteen
point, he decided, literally, to get
behind the wheels. He started
driving to work with his security The government
guards coming in another car. is taking every
He has also been conducting possible mea-
cabinet meetings through sure to defeat
video conferencing. the coronavirus,
Thackeray, however,
knows he cannot win this battle
right from test-
without the “extraordinary” ing more people
performance of his frontline to the forced
soldiers—the health work- lockdown. We
ers. Maharashtra’s budgetary have to win this
allocation for health-related battle, and we
services has risen around 50
per cent in six years, yet its per
can’t do it with-
capita health spend of Rs 975 is out your (the
one of the lowest in the country. people’s)
The COVID-19 outbreak has support”
exposed the poor infrastructure
— UDDHAV THACKERAY
in the government hospitals
which are still struggling to find

MAGAZINE KING
ventilators and state-of-the-art
laboratories. The doctors are
scared, and rightly so—there
have been several cases where
nurses have been infected.
and has expedited the process
to increase the number of
testing laboratories, personal
Yet, there has been no major protective equipment (PPE)
ANI

protest so far and the credit kits, designated hospitals and

for this goes to Thackeray who
has frequently reached out to
the health workers, motivating
them in this hour of crisis. He
has assured the people that
there will never be shortage
of funds to fight the pandemic
quarantine wards. He has also
opened a dialogue with opposi-
tion parties, industrialists and
celebrities, asking them to aid TAMIL NADU
the state government’s efforts.
A separate bank account has EDAPPADI K.
been created for a relief fund,
PALANISWAMI
which collected around Rs 200

To Serve
crore in just three days. Thac-
keray has also been address-
USP ing the people twice a week

Thackeray opened
a dialogue with oppo-
sition parties, industri-
alists and celebrities
to come forward and
aid the government's
efforts. A separate
bank account was
created for the relief
fund, which swelled to
over Rs 200 crore in
just three days
and Honour
via Facebook. A flip-flop on
public distribution system (PDS)
foodgrains, though, has sullied
his image a bit. Thackeray ini-
tially announced that the state
TOTAL +CASES 738
would be distributing a three-
month quota of foodgrains in
TOTAL DEATHS 8
advance. However, he later
changed it to one month, argu-
ing that people might sell off the
extra rations. n
‑Kiran D. Tare

38 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0

MAGAZINE KING
W
ith assembly elections
less than a year away,
Tamil Nadu chief minis-
ter E.K. Palaniswami is
using all the resources at his disposal
to minimise COVID-19 casualties in
the state. The focus, of course, is to ag-
gressively contain the infection. With
621 positive cases so far, Tamil Nadu
today has the third highest number of
coronavirus infected patients among
the states. Of the 63 districts which
account for over 60 per cent of the de-
tected cases in India, 10 are in Tamil
Nadu. That makes CM Palaniswami’s
job even more challenging.
“The state is reeling under an
emergency triggered by the deadly
COVID-19 pandemic,” he declared on
April 7. At the beginning of the lock-
down, the chief minister had sought
USP
Chief Minister
E.K. Palaniswami is
active on Twitter and
quick to come to the
aid of those in need
during the lockdown.
He came to the rescue
of migrants from
Assam and Bihar after
Assam Congress MP
Gaurav Gogoi request-
ed him to do so
from the Centre a special Rs 3,000
crore assistance to strengthen the
health infrastructure. Days later, he
was demanding Rs 9,000 crore. He is
also actively seeking donations from
the people to help the government fight
this unprecedented crisis.
A small consolation, however, is
the fact that both the health minis-
ter, C. Vijayabaskar, and the health
secretary, Beela Rajesh, are medi-
cal graduates. This has helped the
administration move faster and more
effectively as positive cases come up.
Palaniswami is also active on Twit-
ter and has been responsive to those
in need during the lockdown. After
a request by Assam Congress MP
Gaurav Gogoi, he came to the rescue
Self-discipline is of migrants from Assam and Bihar by
the need of the directing the Chennai Corporation to
hour. If the virus provide immediate support.
spreads, the Palaniswami has also been out on
the streets, taking part in relief mea-
situation will be sures. He personally served food to the
very grim. We migrant labour housed at the Guru
should learn from Nanak College in Chennai on April 3.
the experiences The chief minister was also seen eat-
of other coun- ing with the people at an Amma Can-
tries and remain teen when he went for an inspection.
As part of the lockdown measures to
indoors till things tackle the coronavirus, restaurants in
change” the state are permitted to offer only
— E.K. PALANISWAMI takeaways. Dine-in amenities are open
only at the government-run Amma
Canteens where food is offered at
subsidised rates. n
‑Amarnath K. Menon
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 39
NATION CM s AT WORK
MAGAZINE KING
TOTAL +CASES 276 TOTAL DEATHS
UTTAR PRADESH
YOGI ADITYANATH
Crisis Manager
O
n the evening of March
27, when news of thou­
sands of migrants con­
gregating at the borders in
Noida and Ghaziabad started
pouring in, Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Yogi Adityanath
had just finished a review
meeting. Soon, though, he
We have established a Covid
Care Fund for capacity-building
in medical colleges, testing
labs, etc. to fight the pandemic”
—YOGI ADITYANATH
40 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
3
was huddled again with top
state officials till late in the
night. Uttar Pradesh State
Road Transport Corporation
(UPSRTC) managing director
Raj Shekhar was instructed
to mobilise 800 buses to ferry
stranded migrant workers
to their native places. Three
USP
The chief minis‑
ter doesn’t keep
a mobile phone
but now ZOOM
software has been
installed in a PC at
his residence so
that he can video
conference with
officers and district
magistrates
days later, the state trans­
ferred Rs 611 crore to the
bank accounts of 2.7 million
workers as part of a MNREGA
scheme programme.
Though Adityanath feels
the 21­day lockdown may
not be enough to contain the
spread of COVID­19, he is also
conscious of the economic
impact of a nationwide lock­
down. The chief minister has
asked his top officials to iden­
tify industries where there is
no possibility of the spread of
the virus—units where work­
ers can be insulated within
ANI
GET WELL SOON
CM Adityanath talks to
arriving migrant labourers at
Avadh Hospital, Lucknow
the grounds. He cited the
example of a brick kiln where
there was low community
interaction with the work­
ers. He has asked officials to
speak to the owners of such
industries and advise them
not to shut down.
The chief minister
doesn’t keep a mobile phone
but now ZOOM software
has been installed in a PC
at his residence so that he
can video conference with
officers and district magis­
trates. n
‑Ashish Misra

ARVIND
DELHI KEJRIWAL
TOTAL +CASES 720 TOTAL DEATHS
FIVE-PRONGED RESPONSE
D
elhi reported its first con-
firmed case of COVID-19
on March 2. Two days later,
Chief Minister Arvind Kejri-
wal constituted a special task force to
monitor the pandemic in Delhi. Even
so, a month later, on April 7, with 576
confirmed cases, Delhi now has the
third-highest number of cases in the
country. While the city remains in
lockdown, Kejriwal has been holding
regular press briefings and video con-
ferences to ensure transparency in all
matters related to the pandemic.
In one such online interaction on
April 7, the chief minister announced
MAGAZINE KING
the ‘5-T’ strategy to combat the pan-
demic. It will comprise efforts towards
stringent testing, tracing, treat-
ment, team work, and tracking and
monitoring. “We will do mass tests
for coronavirus like South Korea did,”
Kejriwal said. One of the hurdles the
Delhi government faces is a paucity of
testing kits, an issue the chief minister
ANDHRA PRADESH
Y.S. JAGANMOHAN REDDY
12
ANI
acknowledged before announcing that
SHOW THE LIGHT CM Jagan
he would get 100,000 testing kits by
April 10. Another challenge could be in
terms of available healthcare facilities.
In the first days of the lock- LOOKING TO
down, the Kejriwal government
faced criticism over its handling of
THE EXPERTS
migrant workers who started leaving
the capital on foot. Several thousands
TOTAL +CASES 348
poured out on to the roads in the last TOTAL DEATHS 5
week of March. The government,
however, later successfully relocated
F
the remaining workers at government or the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy­
schools. The Delhi government also led Andhra Pradesh government,
acted swiftly in evacuating Tablighi containing COVID­19 became a
Jamaat members from the Nizamud- complex challenge after the realisation
din markaz. Over 330 of the positive
cases in the capital are linked to the
markaz. By April 7, Delhi had seven
hotspots where active containment
strategies have been adopted. n
that 90 per cent of the recent positive
cases have not been linked to foreign
returnees, but those who attended the
Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi
andtheir contacts. Still, the state is striv­
‑Gulam Jeelani ing to stay on top of the situation with
real­time data gathering. And it is using
the nascent village secretariat system
USP set up last year for this. Ward and village
volunteers, along with auxiliary nurse
Kejriwal, along with his midwives and ASHA workers, have
deputy Manish Sisodia, did already surveyed 12.8 million of the
an online talk show to share
14.5 million households in the state to
parenting tips during the
lockdown identify those with COVID­19 symptoms,
enabling swift action and strict vigil.
A total of 27,876 foreign returnees
identified since February 10 and the
80,896 people they came in contact
with are under surveillance. For the
migrant workers in the state, the gov­
ernment has set up 218 camps where
9,695 persons have been sheltered.
Realising the need for expertise,
Reddy, apart from having medical grad­
uate­turned­bureaucrat P.V. Ramesh as
QAMAR SIBTAIN/MAIL TODAY
an advisor in the chief minister’s office,
has roped in K. Srinath Reddy, presi­
dent, Public Health Foundation of India,
to guide the state’s response. n
LONG HAUL ‑Amarnath K. Menon
CM Kejriwal at the
Delhi secretariat
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 41
NATION CM s AT WORK

RAJASTHAN
ASHOK GEHLOT

NO TIME FOR
LENIENCY
A
s soon as Rajasthan reported its first
case on March 2, Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot chalked out a strategy TOTAL +CASES 430 TOTAL DEATHS 3
to contain the spread of COVID-19 and
formulated a cluster containment plan.
The plan was devised to contain the
disease within a defined geographic area the city which had become a hotspot and USP
by early detection, breaking the chain even reimposed a curfew to prevent any
of transmission and thus preventing recurrence. When he found that some local Gehlot ordered a

MAGAZINE KING
ruthless ban on
its spread to new areas. This includes leaders and activists in Ramganj, a Muslim
movement in Bhilwara
implementing geographic quarantine, colony in Jaipur, were browbeating au- which had become a
social distancing measures, enhanced thorities and cops were not being firm about coronavirus hotspot
active surveillance, testing of all suspected imposing the curfew (the neighbourhood has and even imposed a
‘curfew without
cases, isolation of cases, home quarantine turned into yet another hotspot of infection), relaxation’ a second
of those who came in contact with positive Gehlot immediately ordered a strict lock- time to avoid any
cases and social mobilisation to follow down there, similar to the one in Bhilwara. recurrence. Residents
preventive public health measures. Meanwhile, in some areas, Gehlot has are not allowed to step
out of their homes
The impact of this strategy was allowed movement of agricultural equip-
evident in Bhilwara. Gehlot ordered a ment and fresh produce, opening of fertiliser
complete, ruthless ban on movement in stores and other shops.

ANI

MADHYA PRADESH
SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN

PRAYING
FOR THE
BEST
TOTAL +CASES 341 TOTAL DEATHS 30

FAIR SHARE CM Chouhan distributing food packets in Bhopal

 GUJARAT
HANDS ON
Governor Kalraj Mishra helps
CM Gehlot (right) get his hands
sanitised VIJAY RUPANI

Rapid
Reaction
The Centre TOTAL +CASES 186
should let states
decide on lock- TOTAL DEATHS 16
down criteria and
release our dues
at the earliest.

E
The states must ven
before the
also get better national
financial terms lockdown came
for loans” into effect,
— ASHOK GEHLOT Gujarat chief
minister Vijay
ANI Rupani had
realised that the
state was heading for some unusual
Gehlot has, however, been care- The chief minister was also times. This was reflected in one of his
ful to not politicise the crisis and quick to announce Rs 1,000 for ev- early decisions after the virus raised
has avoided blaming the BJP-ruled ery poor family in the state (Rs 310 its head in the state—converting

MAGAZINE KING
Union government for any lapses.
Instead, he has ordered his officers
to fully abide by the Centre’s direc-
tives. Working nearly 16 hours a
day, he has been hands on about the
state’s coronavirus combat strategy,
often sending quick instructions to
ensure food supplies whenever he
gets messages from activists, NGOs
and independent channels about
people going hungry.
crore has already been transferred),
released a dearness allowance in-
stalment for government employees
and incentives for healthcare staff
even as he deferred 75 per cent of
his own March salary. His minis-
ters and most state employees have
pitched in. He has also given relief
to hotels and industries, reducing
some of the mandatory charges. n
‑Rohit Parihar
Ahmedabad’s new 1,200-bed civil
hospital into an exclusive COVID-19
facility. Several other dedicated facili-
ties were later created in Vadodara,
Surat and Rajkot. A three-pronged
strategy—augmentation of the health
infrastructure, priority to preventive
measures and maintenance of food
supplies—was chalked out to counter
the onslaught of COVID-19. As the
lockdown was announced, a fourth
area of action was identified—sensi-
tisation of the police to handle this
unique situation.
The sincere administrator that
he is, Rupani did not want to depend

S
hivraj Singh Chouhan was
sworn in as chief minister on
March 23, a day after the Janta
Curfew when the state went into
lockdown. His immediate task was to
respond to the COVID-19 challenge. A
cabinet has still not been sworn in and
the CM is functioning as minister for
every department (there’s been some
criticism about this).
Chouhan’s typical style has been
to reach out to people. Even now,
sometimes he hits the streets, asking
fruit sellers and vegetables if they
were doing alright. It’s a nightmare for
the local administration but Chou-
han does it nonetheless. His other
attempts at providing succour include
scriptures which he cites in his social
media messages. In the middle of the
crisis, the new CM also transferred
a number of key bureaucrats (for
which again he has received a lot of
flak). All meetings are now via video
conferencing. Though for many in the
state, especially daily wagers, food
has become a problem, Chouhan is
veering towards an extension of the
lockdown beyond mid-April. Sources
say a cost-benefit analysis decided
the issue. n
‑Rahul Noronha
only on brute force to maintain order.
To calm the jittery nerves of the peo-
ple, he requested the managing direc-
tor of dairy cooperative Amul, R.S.
Sodhi, to make a public announce-
ment that there would be no shortage
of milk. Similar announcements were
made about other essential items,
which went a long way in reducing
panic buying and hoarding. Also, to
keep rumours and fake news at bay,
the chief minister has ensured that
four press conferences are held daily
to update the people on the crisis. n
‑Uday Mahurkar
 NATION CM s AT WORK
PUNJAB
AMARINDER SINGH
TRAINING HIS
GUNS AT COVID
P
unjab chief
minister
Capt.
Amarinder
Singh is treating
the coronavirus
REUBEN SINGH
pandemic as a
war-like situa-
tion. Along with
being home to
a large NRI population, Punjab also
has about 900,000 migrant workers
whose welfare he has to ensure. With the
harvest season round the corner, Singh
also has to see to it that farmers are able
MAGAZINE KING
TOTAL +CASES
A
TOTAL DEATHS
to harvest and the process of procure-
ment of produce by both the Centre and
the state is smooth. He has asked his
ministers and MLAs to ensure uninter-
rupted supply of essential commodities,
monitor relief work and the harvest in
their respective constituencies.
Singh himself is working from
his farmhouse in Siswan village near
Chandigarh with minimum staff and has
asked his ministers to avoid gatherings.
The two people working closely with him
are DGP Dinkar Gupta and former chief
secretary Suresh Kumar. On Gupta’s
advice, Singh ordered the sealing of the
state borders even for essential services,
and imposed a full curfew in the state
on March 23. He has also asked state fi-
nance minister Manpreet Singh Badal to
develop an economic revival plan. Pun-
jab has deferred all capital expenditure
till August and all state departments
have been asked to cut down on revenue
expenditure by at least 20 per cent. n
‑Anilesh S. Mahajan
44 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
BIG STRIDES CM Nitish at a press briefing
TOTAL +CASES 51 TOTAL DEATHS
BIHAR
NITISH
KUMAR
One Step
Ahead
99
s the head of a state which
8 is home to a large chunk of
the migrant population in
the country, Nitish Kumar antici-
pated the economic impact of the
COVID-19 outbreak would be most
severe on them and Bihar. It was
one reason why, even before the
country went into lockdown mode
on March 25, Bihar released Rs 100
crore as funds to handle the migrant
arrivals. This was in addition to the
one-month extra salary distrib-
uted to doctors and other health
department employees, one month
free rations to 16.8 million ration
USP
Working long
hours from home,
Nitish held a Cabinet
meeting on April 8
through video link
and decided to slash
15 per cent salary of
legislators
1
ANI
Those hit by the
crisis have first
right over gov-
ernment funds.
We have tried to
reach out to all of
them with finan-
cial assistance”
— NITISH KUMAR
card holders and a bank transfer
of Rs 1,000 to each of them. Bihar
also paid Rs 1,000 each to about
1.3 million registered construction
workers. Besides, some 8.7 million
pensioners are being paid three
months pension in advance. The
direct benefit transfer outgo is likely
to touch Rs 1,400 crore as the chief
minister continues to add people to
the list of those eligible for financial
assistance in the state.
From having direct discussions
with medical experts to ensuring
that the migrants who have returned
to Bihar are not just screened but
also provided financial assistance,
Nitish has kept a tight grip on every
detail of the state’s COVID-19 battle
plan. A Corona Eradication Fund has
been set up and the chief minister
contributed Rs 7 crore to it from his
local area development fund as a
member of the legislative council. He
has also asked all Bihar legislators
to contribute a minimum of Rs 50
lakh from their funds to strengthen
the government’s hand in the fight
against the pandemic. n
‑Amitabh Srivastava
 ASSAM
SARBANANDA SONOWAL
A SILENT STRATEGY
C
OVID-19 and China’s Wuhan
province were just making
the global headlines in the
beginning of 2020, but Assam chief
minister Sarbananda Sonowal was
already making contingency plans.
In the final week of January, he
had an informal conversation with
health and finance minister Himanta
Biswa Sarma and chief secretary
Kumar Sanjay Krishna on the issue.
Two days before India’s first novel
coronavirus case was detected on
January 30, Sonowal’s government
started screening international pas-
sengers at the six airports in Assam.
To stress the importance of social
distancing, Sonowal cancelled all his
MAGAZINE KING
N
public engagements from March 13.
Meanwhile, Sarma was handling the
state’s response to the crisis on the
ground. He even made the statewide
lockdown announcement on March
24, a day before Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi clamped a national one.
The minister has travelled all over the
ANI
TOTAL +CASES
SPRAYED CM Sonowal joins a sanitising mission in Fancy Bazaar, Guwahati
state, taking stock of the prepared-
ANI
ness of the medical infrastructure
while Sonowal and Sanjay Krishna
monitored the situation through daily
video conferencing with top officers
and the local administration. A ‘chief
minister’s special package’, covering
more than seven million people in the
state, has also been announced. n
‑Kaushik Deka
USP
In a clear division of
work, CM Sonowal
assigned the task of
medical strategising
to health minister Hi-
manta Biswa Sarma,
while he, as the home
minister, focused on
preparing the police
force to respond to
this unprecedented
crisis
28 TOTAL DEATHS 0 March 21, Patnaik set up emergency
IN SOLIDARITY CM Patnaik
ODISHA
NAVEEN PATNAIK
TOTAL +CASES 42
TOTAL DEATHS 1
EARLY BIRD
aveen Patnaik was one of the
first chief ministers to under-
stand the severity of the CO-
VID-19 outbreak, and the state started
its preparations by February-end. On
March 3, he opened a web portal to
register those returning from abroad
and other states so as to track their
health status. About 15,000 people are
currently being monitored.
Before locking down the state on
helplines. Though following the rules
of isolation, Patnaik is in touch virtu-
ally with all his ministers and bureau-
crats and is active on social media.
The government is providing free
rations and an allowance of Rs 1,000
to 16.4 million people in the state for
three months and Rs 1,500 a month
to about 2.2 million workers. Doctors,
nurses and medical staff are getting
four months’ salary in advance.
On a lighter note, the CM is also
trying to ensure that the health of
women does not suffer during the lock-
down. He has asked the state’s menfolk
to help with the house work and not
expect to be waited on hand and foot. n
‑Romita Datta
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 45

NEW NORMAL CM Yediyurappa gets
scanned in Bengaluru, Apr. 7
KARNATAKA
B.S. YEDIYURAPPA
Ahead of the Curve
T
he political school that Kar-
nataka chief minister B.S.
Yediyurappa belongs to never
believed in the power of social
media. But in the past three weeks, he
has turned to it again and again to be
seen and, more importantly, be heard.
The CM has been addressing people
through social media channels at least
MAGAZINE KING
once a week, creating awareness about
COVID-19 and informing people about
the government’s preparations.
Yediyurappa, in fact, started early in
his efforts to arrest the spread of the vi-
rus. Even before the Centre announced
the nationwide lockdown, he had an-
nounced a shutdown of seven districts,
including Bengaluru, where positive
cases were reported. He also announced
the formation of a task force, putting
health minister B. Sriramulu and medi-
cal education minister K. Sudhakar on
the job to monitor the situation.
The BJP stalwart has also been
putting emphasis on creating a positive
environment in this depressing time.
The Karnataka government has been
encouraging doctors and health workers
to put out ‘motivating experiences’ on
social media. The chief minister has also
donated a year’s salary to the CM’s relief
fund and urged ministers, MPs and
MLAs to follow suit. n
‑Aravind Gowda
TOTAL +CASES
TOTAL DEATHS
46 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
PINARAYI
KERALA VIJAYAN
TOTAL +CASES 345 TOTAL DEATHS
ANI
ON THE READY
S
oon after the COVID-19
outbreak was reported from
Wuhan, Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan directed his health minister
K.K. Shailaja Teacher to monitor the
situation closely. On January 23,
Vijayan constituted a 40-member
core group headed by Shailaja and a
crisis management group headed by
principal secretary (health), Dr Rajan
Khobragade. Another group tracked
down and contacted those who had
returned from Wuhan by January 25.
Task forces headed by the district
collectors were formed in 14 districts
to support the medical professionals.
In the past four years, the Left
Front government has spent more
USP
CM Pinarayi has a rigorous
schedule monitoring develop-
ment round the clock—meet-
ing with health minister at 9
am, with officials at 10 am,
review at 4 pm and media
briefing at 6 pm
THE RIGHT
PATH
CM Pinarayi
Vijayan
181
5
2
We have checked
the COVID-19 spread
but the vigil must
continue. We are all
together in these
dark days”
—PINARAYI VIJAYAN
than Rs 5,000 crore to improve the
delivery systems of public health
institutions, which has played a huge
role in preventing the community
spread of the virus. The CM has also
been motivating healthcare person-
nel; he even wrote to Delhi CM Arvind
Kejriwal to look after the interests of
the Malayali nurses in the capital.
Even before the national
lockdown, Pinarayi had announced
an economic relief package of
Rs 20,000 crore. Since then, his
government has been providing food
through 14,000 community kitch-
ens; and shelter to around 300,000
migrant workers. The homeless have
been shifted to camps where they
get free meals and medical care. n
‑Jeemon Jacob
INDIA TODAY PHOTO

SOCIAL DISTANCING
CM Mamata draws rings to show
people where they should stand
MAGAZINE KING
WEST BENGAL
MAMATA BANERJEE
S
ince the national lock-
down came into force
on March 25, Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee has
hardly been home. Indeed,
she has been everywhere
else—from the markets
to hospitals to banks and
wholesale godowns, oversee-
ing the administration’s war
against COVID-19 first-hand.
In one such visit to the
Eat well and simple, but
healthy—puffed rice, dal,
mashed potatoes with sprin-
klings of onion and chillies”
— MAMATA BANERJEE
Didi’s Survival Tips
Janbazar market in Kolkata,
the chief minister picked up
a brick and drew circles on
the road near some vegetable
vendors, demonstrating how
people should maintain social
distance when buying daily
needs. As a crowd gathered
to see her, Banerjee repri-
manded them, asking them
to maintain distance among
themselves.
SUBIR HALDER
TOTAL +CASES 71 TOTAL DEATHS 5
Her efforts have earned home-made mask, basically
kudos, but also have many a large white triangular hand-
worried. Prime Minister Nar- kerchief, that’s often hanging
endra Modi has called twice, around her neck like a scarf.
requesting her to be cautious Mamata has even demon-
while in public. The hands-on strated how to make a mask
approach is evident in the at home (from a used ganjee).
She’s also been dispensing
some homegrown advice, like
USP wear slippers which can be
washed and worn, and baths
During the in tepid water after returning
lockdown, home from outside. She does
Mamata Banerjee her own chores and is cook-
has been doing ing her own meals, mostly a
her own chores
mish-mash of rice and potato.
and preparing
her own meals, A lockdown is also the best
mostly a mish- time to get creative. Mamata
mash of rice and has written a poem, lyrics and
potato composed music for a song. n
‑Romita Datta
A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 47
NATION CM s AT WORK
K. CHANDRASHEKAR
TELANGANA RAO
TOTAL +CASES 453 TOTAL DEATHS
Keep Your Distance
C
hief Minister K.
Chandrashekar Rao
is of the firm belief
that enforced social
distancing is the only way to
combat this deadly virus. “We
have expanded our facilities
so that we are able to handle
60,000 COVID- 19 cases
simultaneously…all efforts of
the government will, how-
ever, be futile if people do not
cooperate,” he says. That’s why
MAGAZINE KING
the Telangana government
We can recover from the hit
the economy is taking, but we
can’t bring back people’s lives.
Lockdown is our only weapon”
—K. CHANDRASHEKAR RAO
MANOHAR LAL
HARYANA KHATTAR
USP
Khattar has set
up a time-table
for review meet-
ings with officials
between 9 am
and 11 pm. He
also addresses
citizens daily thr-
ough his YouTube
channel and is
doing more yoga
48 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
11
has been strictly enforcing the
lockdown. Among families,
only one person is allowed to
step out at a time, and that too
in the mornings and only to
buy essentials. Between 7 pm
and 7 am, a curfew is in force
with no inter- or intra-district
movement except that of
security and health authori-
ties. KCR himself is following
the lockdown norms. Though
confined to Pragathi Bhavan,
his office-cum-residence, he
TOTAL +CASES 167
TOTAL DEATHS
TECH ON TAP
C
hief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar may be old school,
but he’s relying on technol-
ogy to beat the twin threats facing
the state. Besides the COVID-19
ON CALL KCR at a press briefing, Apr. 7
still holds extensive meet-
ings. He has also become
a bit more media-friendly,
holding briefings at least
twice a week (which are tele-
vised live). Social distancing
is adhered to on all occa-
sions, be it official meetings,
media briefings or public
events like receiving dona-
tions to the Chief Minister’s
Relief Fund. n
‑Amarnath K. Menon
epidemic, Haryana also
has to deal with harvesting
the rabi crop amidst the
lockdown. Khattar has set
up multiple helplines for
those seeking food sup-
plies, for financial assis-
2 tance to the poor, for health
assistance, for old citizens
looking for details on pen-
sion/ other benefits. “A call
centre randomly verifies
the information shared by
these helplines,” says Rajiv
Khullar, the CM’s principal
secretary.
Apart from this, Khattar
addresses citizens daily via
All COVID-19 case figures are till April 9
ANI
USP
In a break from
the past, KCR is
holding media
briefings at least
twice a week and
these are also
televised live.
his YouTube channel, which
is also broadcast live by
local TV channels. He’s also
in touch with the opposition
to coordinate relief work.
Health and home min-
ister Anil Vij (in charge of all
corona-related incidents)
and deputy CM Dushy-
ant Chautala (in charge of
procurement-related
matters) are Khattar’s two
point men. He has also
deputed senior IAS officers
in all 22 districts to deal
with the situation on the
ground. n
‑Anilesh S. Mahajan
 FOCUS
Health

Coping with Corona is a complex challenge especially in the absence of distinct prevention and a vaccine
for want of adequate knowledge about the virus so that it can be checked. How to ward off the symptoms or combat it
if persistent? How to up immunity? What are the short and long term measures to protect the lungs that are the critical
target of the virus? Are other anti – malarial drugs a palliative if not a possible cure? With hypertension, diabetes and a

MAGAZINE KING
weak heart reckoned as co – morbidities what are the guidelines for those already plagued by lifestyle illnesses? How can
others who need regular blood transfusion and dialysis managed the disruption posed by Covid 19? And, how can one
manage the altered ways of virtual confinement so as to improve health.

India Today turns to some of the finest domain specialists and other experts for their counsel and recommendations
that can help citizens cope with the coronavirus to re - imagine and lead healthier lives. It is a series that brings alive the
challenges and how to face them squarely in these testing times.

Read through and use them to stay safe and secure.

1) Improve your immunity. 2) COVID19 is not Malaria.

Dr. Dr V.K. Tiwari ( Former Director, Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, New Delhi)
tells us that Immunity is our body’s defence against infections and toxins using
antibodies or white blood cells. Immunity depends on various minerals and vitamins
to function.
It has to be done systematically by eating a good diet, rich in fruits and vegetables so
that our body receives essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins.
Those with a strong immune system can get infected by COVID-19, but their chances
of recovery are generally better and faster.
Dr T.V. Narayana ( President, Indian Pharmaceutical Association) strongly advocates
against taking an antimalarial pill for dry cough and fever. If you have symptoms,
please seek medical advice over a phone call first. Do not self-medicate or treat
yourself at home.
Doctors use a combination of drugs based on the specific symptoms of a patient. The
ICMR directive allows the Doctor to decide the dosage and drugs.
IT WAS LOCKDOWN
AT MIDNIGHT
At the Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE), we try and reimagine inclusive
development and incubate innovative solutions together with the communities.
MAGAZINE KING
Water and Sanitation for the Poor in Times of COVID
L
ockdown at midnight. Like Cinderella at 12 O’clock,
everything unraveled. While we all scrambled to
hoard food, medicines, sanitizers, soaps, money….
even beyond basics, those who lived in slums didn’t
have this luxury. Sukh Lal, a resident of Vivekanand
Camp in Chanakya Puri, Delhi had no money, space or
a refrigerator to stock vegetables. The morning after,
the water tanker didn’t arrive and there was no drinking
water. The newspapers reported that the tanker service
was dispensed as it was hard to maintain social distance
with people jostling for water. Who knew how long the
Coronavirus (Covid-19) would live on the tanker surface.
Next day, the community toilet attendant didn’t show
up, too scared of being infected or because there were no
buses on the roads. It could also be because detergents
may not have been delivered to clean the toilet. Sukh Lal
wondered how he would wash hands every few hours to
protect himself, how he would stand 6 feet away from
the person ahead of him in the queue while waiting to
use the shared toilet. He wondered if his mother would
be paid her monthly wage. He wondered if he would
be able to set up his stall next morning. He had just Rs
500, would they last 21 Days? Would they have enough
money to pay the rent at the end of the month? Or
should he, like the others, go back to his village?
Since we have begun to live in cities and our domestic
helpers, presswalas, drivers, vegetable sellers in
the slums of these cities, our approach to delivering
services to slums has remained unchanged. There is a
lack of proper infrastructure like community toilets and
community taps, unconnected to the supply pipes and
the trunk infrastructure. Many have been living in such
slums for over forty years but, because these squatter
settlements are on public lands, providing taps and
toilets at home is not an option. That would mean
granting them ownership of that public land, permanent
stay and legitimacy to live forever on lands that the city
may want to repurpose for ‘better’ uses. A pandemic like
COVID 19 has shown us how worthwhile it would have
been to be inclusive, to provide the poor with taps and
toilets at home. How much less we would have to worry
about stage three – the community spread.
One in ten urban households in India gets bad drinking
water (Census 2011). All who get bad water are in
most likelihood, the poor who live in the slums of
cities. Informal estimates say there are over 7.5 crore
informal migrant workers in the country, 5 crore in the
construction sector alone (Jan Sahas, 2020). Many, as
COVID 19 has proved, do not live in the slums but inside
small eateries (dhabas), factories, migrant hostels. In
Punjab their rented tenements are called Vedhas where
people rent beds by working shifts. No one ever checked
if the water supplied to them was clean, enough and
within their vicinity. No one ever worried if the one toilet
they shared with 50 others was clean and connected to
the sewer line to prevent ground water contamination.
No one stopped them when they drew this dirty water
out from the hand pumps and used it for drinking,
cooking and hand washing. Not getting water at home is
a dreadful experience for all, more so for the women and
girls who are responsible for its collection and storage.
It sets boundaries on what they can do, when and for
how long they can go to school and learn the skills to
earn better. Bad water disempowers them, denies them
agency, voice and choice. Summers worsen the water
crisis, and less and less is available for maintaining
hygiene needed to break the spread of the virus.
Inclusive infrastructure that is equitable, dignified, and
at the same time, healthy, requires some unthinking
 FOCUS
HEALTH

and a bit of de-engineering. It also needs a change in

legacy practices. At the Centre for Urban and Regional
Excellence (CURE), we try and reimagine inclusive
development and incubate innovative solutions
together with the communities. These are localized
and designed to promote equity, sustainability and
resilience. The solutions are simple, cheap, desirable
and doable. They integrate people, creating ownership
and place attachment and nudge people to conserve the
natural ecologies of their areas. They make people the
resource generators.
CURE has partnered with poor communities in Agra,
using their traditional wisdom to design water solutions
and revitalize the ecology. The poor have contributed
in the planning, building, financing and maintaining
of seven community rainwater harvesting tanks and
numerous groundwater recharging systems. Built using
traditional well making techniques, they annually
collect 10 lakh litres of rainwater from roofs of schools,
community halls, temples and mosques. People bank
and use the water when in need, to drink and cook
food. Rainwater has made them water-secure and
healthier and their areas greener. It has enhanced school
CURE has been developing Resilient Schools. Starting with fixing the toilets and
making these functional, CURE has revitalized the rainwater harvesting structures
in these schools.
systems. These have not just made the slums cleaner and
healthier, but repurposed the water. Clean and healthy
communities has triggered people’s investment in
housing upgrades, reclaiming public spaces and pushing
up land values – making the poor wealthier.
Post COVID19, we could either change the way we think
about infrastructure for the poor, including for those
who may not be in defined geographies, network them
with city systems and provide them an equitable access
to basic services, or it could be Business as Usual. If we
have to step up, then city governments must address
four key challenges -- Locality, Localization, Legacies and
Participation. Lack of Land tenure or locality is at the root
of bad water and sanitation services. Irrespective of the
illegal land ownership of slums, the policy should be to
on-grid them with taps and toilets at home. There is an
assumption that slums are in bad geographies, hard to
service, overcrowded, dense, organic and on eco-fragile
lands. Remember, bad geographies can be managed
with some imagination, a bit of de-engineering to make
the scale smaller and localization to fit solutions to these
organic contexts. This is also an opportunity to make the
poor the protectors of the ecosystem. This can happen
when people are involved in the process of planning –
democratization of decision making and hearing their
voices can help curate solutions that are sustainable
and that the community will own and use. And in the
end, the government way of working by implementing
default solutions for slums have not changed since the
1970s. These legacies of shared services must go and be
replaced by better and equitable services. Governments
must Dare to Do, be disruptive, reimagine, unthink.
Inclusion has to be the way of Development. The
pandemic may nudge that change.

MAGAZINE KING
enrolment and attendance (and teacher motivation) that
will have intergenerational impacts on poverty. Three
hundred children in just one school have year-round
clean drinking water supply. The city saves hugely on
treating and supplying water and its groundwater tables
are being recharged and repaired. Most significantly,
this huge water bank has flipped the social inequality of
these neighbourhoods.
In Delhi, CURE has been developing Resilient Schools.
Starting with fixing the toilets and making these
functional, CURE has revitalized the rainwater harvesting
structures in these schools. The handwashing water is
treated in a micro Decentralized Wastewater Treatment
System, that makes available water for vegetable
gardening. The food and other green waste is composted
and reused in the kitchen gardens of the school that are
enhancing nutritional intake.
Simplified sewers have been localized to slum
geographies. These narrow-shallow sewer lines navigate
the organic gullies of slums. Where available they are
networked to the city’s trunk infrastructure. Where there About the author: Dr Renu Khosla is the Director of
is no sewerage, these are taken to a decentralized cluster CURE India, which is working with USAID to lead PASS
septic tank for primary treatment. Simplified sewer have
enabled these households to build personal toilets – just
“Pani aur Swachta mein Sajhedari” in Delhi and Agra.
as we all have. They have built their toilets cheaply and PASS aims to deliver improved and integrational WASH
retrofitted to their small home spaces. Water pipelines services to poor communities - taps and toilets at
from the main supply pipes have been brought inside
slums that have enabled people to get water taps at
home, to ensure equality, better health and enhanced
Dr Renu Khosla
home. Storm water drains carrying black water to rivers Director, CURE India productivity for sustained poverty reduction.
have been treated using bio-remedial-aerobic treatment
 FOCUS
Health

3) When in Doubt, Insist on a Test.

Dr Sukumar Mukherjee is part of an experts’ panel guiding the government’s Covid-19 response. He lists the do’s and don’ts.

Dos: MAGAZINE KING

1 2 3
Stay at home. The lockdown and social Maintain cough etiquette. Carry a Stay protected with a 3-layered surgical
distancing are your best bets against getting handkerchief. mask. An N-95 mask is apt.
infected.

4 5
Have a nutritious diet, with lots of Vitamin Those suffering from chronic asthma,
C containing fruits and vegetables. Keep diabetes should keep the diseases under
yourself hydrated with fluids, warm water control. Such cases are more susceptible to
infection.

Don’ts:
1 3 5
Don’t panic. Any type of fever, cough or cold Don’t feel scared to visit a medical Remember, the only medicine we know is
may not be COVID-19. As a precaution, go to practitioner. If you have doubts, insist on preventive social distancing. Stay away from
a doctor. testing. mass programmes of any kind.

4) Play Safe With Your Lungs.
Dr P.N.S. Reddy ( Consulting Pulmonologist, Yashoda
Hospitals, Somajiguda, Hyderabad) recommends
keeping the respiratory tract in top shape. Avoid alcohol
and cigarettes. Acohol and smoking aggravate the
respiratory distress.
A well-balanced diet, regular physical and breathing
exercises for 20-30 minutes and early morning exposure
to sunlight are long-term protection measures.
5) Get well…@home
Dr Rajiv Passey ( Cardiologist, Ganga Ram Hospital)
recommends staying at home and calling or emailing
MAGAZINE KING
the doctor and to opt for an e-consultation. There are
cases of doctors and nurses being infected. Visiting
a hospital premises is avoidable, unless absolutely
necessary.
Go to the hospital with the absolute minimal people
needed to get you there safely. Those with ailments
such as diabetes, heart condition or asthma should
stock up on medication to avoid repeated visits to the
pharmacy or clinic.
6) Protect nose, eyes, mouth.
Dr Om Shrivastava ( Director, Infectious Diseases, Jaslok
Hospital, Mumbai) says that the face mask helps you
only if worn tightly
Some studies point out that the COVID-19 virus could be
airborne. When an infected person coughs or sneezes,
the virus could stay suspended in fluid droplets in the
air for long.
It is advisable for all to wear a mask outdoors. It is
important to wear and dispose of the mask correctly.
There should be no gaps between the mask and
your chin or nose.The exterior of the mask could be
contaminated after you have worn it. You must dispose
of it immediately after use and wash your hands with
soap.
If your mask which can be sterilised, do sterilise it in
boiling water after every use. Purchase masks in sealed
packets only.
 FOCUS
Health
7) Digital detox.
Dr Nimesh G. Desai ( Director, Institute of Human
Behavior and Allied Sciences) advices distancing
ourselves from Corona-panic.
The internet is an essential resource, but the
information one gets from it needs to be taken with a
pinch of salt, especially in these worrying times. It is
essential to trust only the reliable sources.
8) Expertspeak
Dr Elesh Jain ( Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, Chitrakoot )
MAGAZINE KING
offers the following tips to de-stress from extra screen-
time that people are exposed to under the current
circumstances. It can lead to dryness or redness of the
eye, headache and strain.
 One of the ways of eye care is to blink every 20
seconds while reading or watching anything.
 Take a break from work every 20 minutes and close
your eyes for a few seconds.
 Every two hours, get up from your work station
and splash water on your eyes.
 Do not rub eyes with your hands.
In case of excessive dryness—a pricky feeling in the
eye—or redness, consult an ophthalmologist online.
You can use an over-the-counter lubricating drop, up
to five times a day. Do add pranayam and yoga to your
daily routine.
Helping Patients Needing Dialysis
Vikram Vippula (Founder – CEO, NephroPlus) advices
how dialysis patients can cope in these trying times.
Having any safeguards for kidney failure patients in this
crisis time is difficult. All dialysis centers across India
have stopped accepting new patients in a bid to keep
away infected patients.
Social distancing is 10 times more important for
dialysis patients and they are significantly immuno -
compromised. They should do some simple walking
exercise in their homes if walking is their daily habit.
They should go to a dialysis center in their own private
transport rather than public transport or car pooling.
At the dialysis center, they should follow the social
distancing practice and wear a mask at all times before,
during and after dialysis. Do not miss your dialysis
session as burden on the heart increases significantly
when sessions are missed. The government has to ease
various restrictions to help these patients address their
specific, unavoidable needs.
Personal caution and care is enough to ward off the
COVID19 threat. If each one of us overcomes it, we as
a nation will be successful in countering one of the
greatest challenge to mankind.
TAKING
CARE OF
HEARTS WITH
MISSIONARY
ZEAL

HOW DID YOU COME TO CHOOSE MEDICAL

PROFESSION AS A CAREER?

MAGAZINE KING I come from a humble rural background, a village named

Jatara in Tikamgarh district, Madhya Pradesh. And I
remember that when I was a small boy there was a
very kind doctor in our village, whom all loved. He was
my inspiration and I wanted to become like him. I was
a brilliant student, a topper and very good in maths
also. My father then vice principal of an educational
institution wanted me to pursue engineering, but I filled
the form with biology as subjects. Insistent, my father
replaced the form with subjects necessary for pursuing
engineering course. But I went and got that cancelled
and submitted a form for biology (Laughs heartily). I was
DR. C.P. SRIVASTAVA so clear and adamant about my career path. Since I was
Director & HOD - Cardiac Surgery 16 and underaged, I had to wait for a year to be eligible
at Narayana Multi-speciality Hospital, Jaipur to appear for Pre-Medical Test. I appeared for it and got
selected, thus starting my eventful life to become a
medical professional.

Dr. C.P. Srivastava, Director & HOD - Cardiac Surgery at Narayana Multispeciality
Hospital, Jaipur, is amongst the top few cardiac surgeons of North India who regularly
performs high risk re-do cardiac surgeries on patients considered in-operable or
categorized as high risk. With an enviable experience of 39 years in the profession,
the illustrious doctor is passing on his skills to young aspiring cardiac surgeons,
many who carry his legacy in different parts of the world. He has performed over
16,000 operations ranging from the basic to advanced cardiac, thoracic and vascular
surgeries. The affable surgeon, in a chat with the India Today shares his life’s
experience in the medical field.
COULD YOU SHARE ABOUT YOUR LEARNING DAYS IN
MEDICAL COLLEGES?
I completed by MBBS and MS in general surgery
from Gwalior and went on to do my M.Ch in
Thiruvananthapuram. For training in cardio vascular
surgery, I went to England. These opportunities have
been great learning experience for me to hone my skill
in heart surgery as well as meeting interesting people
from the medical profession, interacting with whom
have added to my knowledge.
WHY DID YOU OPT FOR SPECIALIZATION IN CARDIAC
SURGERY?
My internal instinct made me opt for specialization in
Cardiac Surgery. I was interested to take on something
big and more challenging, and at that time cardiac
surgery was a rare discipline that people choose. I liked
surgical anatomy and so got a surgical posting in MS and
was amongst the top five position holders. I witnessed
that the mortality rate amongst such patients was
very high – which both concerned and intrigued me.
I thought that there must be a way to reduce deaths.
Today, medical science has made tremendous progress
in technology and methodologies and mortality rate
has come down to 1 percent from 10-15% which is
a great step forward. I have completed a fulfilling 39
years in this profession and have conducted over 16,000
surgeries, including that of a 2-day old newborn.
COULD YOU SHARE THE AREAS YOUR AREAS OF
SPECIALIZATION?
Cardiac Surgery is my passion and I like taking up
challenging cases. Complicated and Complex Coronary
artery bypass surgeries, Adult and paediatric cardiac
surgery, high risk & complex re-do surgeries, total
arterial revascularization, Minimally Invasive Cardiac
MAGAZINE KING
Surgery, Aortic surgeries and sequential grafting, Valve
Repair & Replacement, Congenital heart surgeries and
Bypass Surgery using RIMA LIMA Y technique are among
the many surgical procedures that I have successfully
carried out.
COULD YOU SHARE SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR
TEACHING DAYS?
I have taught for 22 years as Faculty and later on Sr.
Professor & HOD - Dept. of Cardiac Surgery at the
prestigious SMS Medical college, Jaipur apart from
serving as its medical superintendent for a brief period.
Today, 24 of my students who have gained training
in specialised branches of cardiac surgery under my
guidance and mentorship are settled in different parts of
the world. Presently, 6 medicos are training under me at
the hospital. On an average, I do four surgeries in a day.
HOW ADVANCED HAS MEDICAL SCIENCES BECOME
AND WHERE DOES INDIA STAND IN GLOBAL
RANKING?
Earlier, patients needing advanced surgeries had to
go abroad, but now the scenario has undergone a
360-degree turn. Indian doctors are among the best
surgeons in the world and most sought after. As a
result, with world class facilities now available in India,
we have foreign nationals coming to us because the
treatment outcome is very good and most importantly it
is affordable. Patients from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria,
the Middle east to name a few countries are regularly
referred to us. This has given a boost to medical tourism. KEY POSITIONS IN CAREER SPAN
WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT OF RAJASTHAN DOING
 Cardiac Surgeon at National
TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE?
In the past decade or so the Rajasthan Government has Heart Institute, New Delhi
come up with programmes to strengthen the healthcare
 Pool Officer, Dept. of
system of the state, where tertiary healthcare in
government hospitals is free for BPL segment of the Cardiothoracic Surgery, SMS
society and subsidised in private hospitals. In fact, the Hospital & Medical College,
state government has slightly remodelled the Ayushman
Jaipur
Bharat programme to suit local healthcare needs which
shall be in effect soon.  Senior House Officer, Wessex
Cardio Thoracic Center,
COMPARATIVELY, HOW GOOD ARE THE MEDICAL
FACILITIES IN RAJASTHAN TO OTHER COSMOPOLITAN Southampton General Hospital,
CITIES? UK
I must say that the medical treatment available in
Rajasthan is at par with metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai  Asst. Prof – Cardiothoracic &
or elsewhere. When I was offered the opportunity to Vascular Surgery, SMS Medical
work at Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Jaipur, I
college, Jaipur
accepted it, and I must say it has facilities that are no less
than any global medical institution. Rajasthan is fast  Associate Prof – Cardiothoracic
becoming a leading destination for high quality medical
& Vascular Surgery, SMS
care.
AS A SENIOR MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL FRATERNITY
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES
SHOULDERED BY YOU?
Medical college, Jaipur
 Professor & HOD – Dept. of
Cardiothoracic & Vascular
I have been the President of the Indian Association of Surgery, SMS Medical college,
cardio-vascular and thoracic surgeons, and held posts
Jaipur
of Secretary of Indian Association of cardio-vascular
and thoracic surgeons, Editorial board member of Indian  Sr. Professor & HOD – Dept.
Journal of Thoracic and Cardio-vascular surgery
of Cardiothoracic & Vascular
as well as Permanent Member for selection of GC Sharma
fellowship every year. In addition, I have presented and Surgery, SMS Medical college,
published over 30 papers in national and international Jaipur
journals in my area of specialization. I have been invited
to give lectures at various prestigious forums in the  Chief Consultant & HOD -
country as well as abroad. Cardiothoracic & Vascular
Surgery at Heart and General
HOW DO YOU RELAX AFTER A STRESSFUL DAY?
Music is an effective stress-buster. I and my wife Dr hospital, Jaipur.
Malika Swaroop, a gynaecologist, are music aficionados
 Chief consultant & HOD –
and we have a karaoke setup at home. When I return
from work, I play the flute, we sing and spend quality Cardiac Surgery at EHCC, Jaipur
time together listening to soothing music.
 President & Secretary of Indian
HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP YOUR LIFE? Association of Cardiovascular &
I must say that my life’s experiences have been very Thoracic Surgeons
satisfying, in fact very good. I treat my operation theatre
as my temple.
PATIENT EDUCATION PROGRAME
MAGAZINE KING
MAGAZINE KING
MAGAZINE KING
MAGAZINE KING
THE PANDEMIC Q&A WITH
SOUNDTRACK TASLIMA NASREEN
PG 64 PG 66

MAGAZINE KING

REVIEW

INVISIBLE MAN
THE PRESENT LOCKDOWN HAS MADE CONSPICUOUS THE PLIGHT OF
THE INDIAN MIGRANT. IN HIS NEW NOVEL AMNESTY, ARAVIND ADIGA, TOO,
IMAGINES WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE CAUGHT BETWEEN HOME AND AWAY

Illustration By SIDDHANT JUMDE

 w
We use the word apocalypse—and these days frequently—to
describe the end of the world. But its literal meaning, from
ancient Greek, is “uncovering”. No one can say for sure wheth-
er Covid-19 is our omega, but there’s no doubt we’re living
through a time of revelations—of the unseen becoming visible.
Since India went into lockdown, we’ve seen indelible im-
ages of migrant labourers on a trudging exodus towards dis-
tant homes. We’ve seen them beaten by lathis and sprayed
with industrial chemicals, as if they were the unfeeling parts
of some machine. The privileged—some dabbling in domestic
labour for the first time—watch as the inequality of our society
is laid bare, thrown into sharp relief at interstate borders. This
inequality also sends people across international borders: on
foot, in boats, on planes. The transport varies; the migrant
may have more or less to his name. But while the work he does
is invaluable, the world does not want to see him.
“Does it work like this?” wonders Danny, the Sri Lankan
MAGAZINE KING
protagonist of Aravind Adiga’s fourth novel. “You’re not want-
ed to begin with in your own home. Then illegal immigrants
come to your country, take what little you have, and force you
to go to Australia and become illegal there.” Amnesty explores
what it means to live in society’s peripheral vision, while also
constantly dodging the state’s surveilling eye.
Adiga, who has spent many years in Australia, says that
in the late 1980s, “all you had to do was stand near Sydney’s
Central train station, and sooner or later, a desi would come
to you, begging for help with his visa problem.” He was always
aware “there was another kind of Indian in Sydney—one on
the verge of losing legal status and slipping into the shadows”.
Danny was inspired by a story Adiga heard among the
Eastern Tamils of Batticaloa (“a minority within a minority”)
when he was a reporter for Time magazine. A victim of state
torture had fled to Australia and “sent just one postcard of
the Sydney Opera House back home, in which he had written
the words: ‘Never coming back.’ Danny is that young man.”
Adiga imagines “a non-Indian, but Hindu, observer mov-
ing through a western city…interpreting his path via Saiva
images of fire and self-punishment”. He finds it liberating to
“describe the world through a Hindu gaze when the setting is
outside.… In India, everything is now political, and I worry
that my freedom to write about my own cultural heritage…
is limited—lest it be misinterpreted,” he says.
Over the course of one life-changing day, Danny, who
works as a cleaner, navigates the “thick bum” (working class)
and “thin bum” (young professional) neighbourhoods of Syd-
ney. He describes “the eyeshock” of recognition when encoun-
tering other South Asians, and his invisibility to most Austra-
62 INDIA TODAY A PR I L 2 0, 2 02 0
AMNESTY
by Aravind Adiga
PAN MACMILLAN INDIA
`699 (Kindle);
215 pages
lians. In constant danger of being “dobbed in” and deported,
Danny’s troubles are intensified by a possible murderer, “two
shades darker than the whites and two shades lighter than the
blacks…Everything in the room was evolving toward him.”
The knowledge each man has about the other turns the screw
of Amnesty’s compressed timeline. As Danny’s phone pings
with ominous messages from “the Doctor”, the city watches
him through screens, cameras and the eyes of strangers.
Adiga’s background in journalism, his powers of social
observation and the thriller-inspired plot make clear the
precarity of Danny’s situation. This is set off by two profligate
characters, “a parody, or inversion”, of the gambling-addicted
protagonists of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda. “Gambling
is a celebration of Australian individualism, of the right to live
as one chooses,” Adiga says, while, for Danny, life is one bad
bet after another. The odds are always against him.
Danny longs to live under the protection of “This object of
wonder, this incorruptible thing, the blondest animal in Aus-
tralia: their Rule of Law”—even while his continued presence
in the country violates it. Besides mining this irony, Adiga ex-
poses “how Australia, which has been a relatively egalitarian
society for much of its history, is changing into another sort of
nation—more racially diverse, certainly, but whose diversity
is also masking the entrenchment of an unfair class system”.
“I’ve always felt that the Indian middle class was pro-
foundly more liberal than its Australian equivalent,” Adiga
had said in a pre-pandemic conversation, while pointing out
that our rule of law is weaker. Yet
now, as people die due to draconian
Adiga and bungled orders, or struggle to
imagines a procure basic supplies without rele-
non-Indian, vant documents, some Indians still
but Hindu, can’t admit that their privilege is a
observer lucky accident in a rigged system. n
‑Sonal Shah
moving
through a
western city

STRANGER
THAN FICTION
The best Net f lix documentaries
WILD WILD COUNTRY (2018)
When Osho decided Oregon would
be the setting for his utopia, he
opened a can of worms that
led to a bioterror attack and wire-
tapping, but significantly, it saw
the inimitable Ma Anand
Sheela awaken.
MAGAZINE KING
ICARUS (2017)
Filmmaker Bryan Fogel only
wanted to uncover the truth about
doping in sports, but once he came
to know Russian scientist Grigory
Rodchenkov, he found himself in
the middle of a geopolitical thriller.
FYRE:
The Greatest Party That
Never Happened (2019)
With an island having been booked,
the Fyre Festsival was billed as the
poshest music experience money
could buy, but lies, deception,
greed and mismanagement forced
the greatest plans to go awry.
W EB SER IES
THE LAST KING
OF WEIRDSVILLE
Watch Tiger King during this lockdown, a
documentary about people who lock big cats in
igers, over 200 of them, activist, wants to shut down Joe’s
languish in cages. Like zoo, and despite Joe’s foul mouth
us today, they too are and vitriol, Tiger King tricks you into
denied an elsewhere. As sometimes siding with him. Carole,
the end credits of Tiger we are told, was once investigated
King: Murder, Mayhem and Mad- for murdering her millionaire hus-
ness roll, it should be their captivity band when he mysteriously went
that saddens us, but the new Netflix missing. Joe is in Oklahoma and
documentary miniseries is so shock- Carole in Florida, but the makers of
ing, so brutal, we somehow forget Tiger King (Rebecca Chaiklin, Eric
the sorrow we are meant to feel. Goode) interview big cat owners
More than the show’s many animals, from across the US, showing them
the humans on view are wilder. all to be ruthless and unethical.
Joe Exotic, the self-proclaimed There’s something despicable
Tiger King, is addicted to the about almost everyone you see,
thrall of breeding, raising thing appalling about
and parading big cats. e most every scene you
Despit s
He is gay and lives in iou witness, but despite this,
his obv ere is
his private zoo with n ac e, th the seven episodes of
me le
g affab ,
m e thin
two husbands for so EXOTI
C Tiger King are binge-
ab out JOE claimed
company. Joe seems -pro worthy. They are able
the self r King
to have as many guns
as he does tigers, but de-
spite this obvious menac
there’s something affable about
Tige balance the inherent
nsationalism of their
rial with an empathy
that doesn’t feel contrived. Even if
him. Without smoothening his jagged voyeuristic at times, they are not
edges, the documentary reveals his squeamish about grime.
greed but also his vulnerabilities. Joe, in his desire for fame,
Carole Baskin, an animal rights had also run for President in 2016.
Towards the end of Tiger King, we
hear his campaign manager remind
 LEISURE
SHUBHA
MUDGAL
Some of us have come to-
gether to start the ADAA (As-
sistance for Disaster Affected
Artistes) campaign. This has
been initiated out of concern
for what the future holds
for artistes and the arts in
India. It is clear that the virus
cannot be contained without
social distancing and, if that
is the case, what will happen
to performances, concerts,
events? While some of us are
fortunate to have savings and
access to family resources,
there are many whose
existence depends on daily
performances. The campaign,
led by Aneesh Pradhan (musi-
MAGAZINE KING
cian and scholar), Arundhati
Ghosh (cultural practitioner),
Mona Irani (producer and
casting director), Rahul Vohra
(actor and arts consultant),
Sameera Iyengar (cultural
practitioner) and myself, is
an effort to provide some
assistance to those artistes
and art professionals whose
savings or earnings may not
be adequate to tide over these
difficult times.
ALAMY
T.M.
KRISHNA
They’re performing online, experimenting with new
Some colleagues and I had
planned a concert to raise
funds for marginalised
artistes. But we went into
lockdown and couldn’t col-
laborate, so I did it at home
by myself last week. We
recorded it 24 hours earlier,
had it edited by night-time
and uploaded it the next day.
It was a lovely experience. It
was like doing riyaaz at home
[…] The virtual space is not
going to replace physical
space, though we know that
it’s going to be important in
the way performing arts are
shared and received in the
future. But we are only talk-
ing about people with great
privilege. A majority of art
forms belong to marginalised
communities, who don’t have
the privilege of using technol-
ogy. During this lockdown, I
have been thinking of how to
support marginalised artistes,
migrant labourers and daily
wage workers in Tamil Nadu.
This was the season for per-
formances of many art forms
in villages, but everything has
been wiped out. It’s a tragedy
that this country keeps tout-
ing itself as culturally rich but
has done nothing for artistes.
GIVING THE PA
SOUND
India’s musicians are beating the
RITVIZ
As a touring artist, the
past couple of months
have involved very intense
travel—on the road, airports.
Every weekend, you are in
a different city. Minus the
travelling, a lot of my work is
from my room, so this feels
normal for a music producer.
I’ve actually not been this
productive all year. I’m just
glad I have time at home and
space to figure out my music.
I feel bad for live musicians
and those depending on gigs
as their primary source of
income. Streaming is going to
be the big source of music, so
I really want people to hunt for
newer music. On social media,
I have been posting about
new talent. There is so much
that needs to be showcased,
and now is the time because
people are listening. My new
song is coming out on April 10
and we are thinking of doing a
crowdsourced video for it.
RAHUL
RAM
Music is like reading a book.
You can be transported to a
different world. And this is
a good time to be listening
to music. Having said that,
I haven’t been, because my
system broke down just a
day before the lockdown.
But around the same time,
my wife’s 100-year-old piano
came home from repairs. I’m
a terrible piano player, but I’ve
been banging out chords. I
played it for the first time for
a Facebook live concert I did
with Amit (Kilam) last week.
The experience was nerve-
wracking, but the sound of
the piano is just so beautiful.
I am enjoying this lockdown
right now. Who knows, I might
come out on the other side as
a better piano player. I’m also
using the time to experiment
with online concerts. I did one
with Aisi Taisi Democracy.
There’s another one planned
for April 10. Indian Ocean will
also release new material
during the lockdown.
NDEMIC IT S
TRACK
instruments and making fresh music at home.
lockdown one note at a time
SHILPA
RAO
With the crisis and roller-
coaster of emotions we
are going through, music
and poetry are taking on a
different role. That’s what is
motivating me every single
day. There’s a lot of Urdu
poetry that comes through
very strongly in these dark
times. I’ve been reading and
listening to Faiz saab, Mirza
Ghalib, Mehdi Hassan, Farida
Khanum and Noor Jahan. Two
ghazals especially stand out:
Mirza Ghalib’s “Dil ae nadan
tujhe hua kya hai, aakhir is
marz ki dawa kya hai.” Right
now, we are looking for that
MAGAZINE KING
remedy or antidote, a vaccine
to get us through our prob-
lems. The other one is Faiz
Ahmed Faiz’s nazm: “Mujhse
pehli si mohabaat, mere
mehoob na maang.” People
think of it as romantic but it’s
not. It’s about how the world
has turned into a place where
greed and war-mongering
have taken over our human-
ity and how we’ve lost our
human selves.
Jailhouse Pop
Playlist for a lockdown
Ankur Tewari, singer and songwriter
l Roshay l Rani
Made in Heaven OST Hindustani Rascal
Vibha Saraf & Dub MALFNKTION
Sharma l Pardo
l Paimona Pardo
Coke Studio Sessions Nishu
Season 2 l Aankhon Ke Sagar
Zeb & Haniya
VISHAL Fuzon
DADLANI l Kaari Kaari Fuzon
I’m pretty sure that, as in Pink OST l Mujhe Le Chal
every age of adversity, new Qurat Ul Ain Balouch
pathways will form both
Wahin
& Shantanu Moitra
within us and without and we Fazal Khan
will discover new routes for l Tere Mere Saath
l Zindaano
creation, new concepts, new Aks
inspirations. Times of trouble Kun
Lucky Ali
make for the greatest tunes. Parvaaz
I’m spending more time in l Ganga Naha Le
l Aao Chalein
meetings and group video- Boondein
chats, and more focused Bombay Dreams
Silk Route
time writing new music than Taba Chake
I was during regular studio
days. I don’t think it’s going to
hit the creation phase very
hard. People may certainly
need to start doing a lot more
recordings over the ether,
and we may need to stream-
line existing systems for
that, but it’s all do-able. Also,
sometimes, less is more. We
may need to start writing
music that’s less dependent
on massive sections of in-
strumentalists for a bit. Strip
it all down. That’s a pretty
happy thought for me.
—As told to
Bhavya Dore and
Sukhada Tatke
Photo Courtesy PRATHMA SINGH
Q A
Q. For many of us, the present
lockdown is unprecedented,
but the isolation may be
familiar to you?
I had to once go into hiding in Ban-
gladesh. In 2007-2008, I was placed
under house arrest for seven-and-a-
half months in Kolkata and Delhi. This
lockdown is certainly familiar. The only
difference, perhaps, is that then I was
forced to isolate, but this time around, I
am willing to.

Q. In your memoir, you recount

horrors like war, religious fun-
damentalism, even molestation.
Was it hard to write?
No, it wasn’t. I have also written about
my father and his extra-marital affair.
These are all things that happen to
people in their lives and I never hide the
truth. Come to think of it, both Bangla-
desh and West Bengal have exiled me
because of my honesty.

Q. Twenty-five years of exile,

I’m sure, has not been easy
to bear, but does it afford you
more freedom as a writer?
I believe that some of my writing,

MAGAZINE KING
which had been published in Bangla-
desh during the 1980s, was crucial.
It is, however, impossible to imagine
that my earlier critical scrutiny of Islam
would see the light of day now—not in
Europe, America or India. Exile doesn’t
allow me a new freedom of expression.

Q. In February, you tweeted

that seeing A.R. Rahman’s
daughter in a burqa left you
“suffocated”. Surely every
woman should be allowed to
wear what she wants…
Every woman deserves that freedom,
but history tells us that women wear-
ing the burqa have been brainwashed,
threatened with the eternal fire of
Hell. A.R. Rahman’s daughter isn’t my
target; my target is the burqa, a sign of
oppression. It’s a chastity belt. Women
mustn’t be made mobile prisons.
—with Shreevatsa Nevatia

Outspoken
Photograph by SHEKHAR GHOSH

In her new memoir, My Girlhood, author in

exile Taslima Nasreen refuses to steer clear of
controversy or uncomfortable opinions

66 Volume XLV Number 16; For the week April 14-20, 2020, published on every Friday Total number of pages 68 (including cover pages)