Negative in 2013, Positive in 2021
India’s Prime Minister and his personal parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have been urging everyone to be positive. Some 300 officials and even Union ministers spent 90 minutes on May 5 attending a workshop on positivity. The Twitter handle for the Prime Minister’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ has also stressed positivity. The RSS has launched a campaign called ‘positivity unlimited’.
There is enough positivity around us. Perhaps too much. A headline in a national daily screams: ‘533 districts reporting over 10% positivity’. India has a total of about 734 districts. ICMR says that out of these, 310 districts have about 21 per cent positivity. We are not testing everyone. But no, this is not the kind of positivity the PM is referring to.
While is difficult to be positive as dozens have died in Goa because oxygen ran out, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar see dozens of corpses in rivers, social media is full of people sharing news of death in their family, I will try.
The weekly news magazine Outlook’s cover says the government is missing. It asks anyone who can find it, to report it to Indian citizens. Last month, another headline said: ‘Delhi RSS leader calls out state BJP: A fire raging, where are you?’ This is unnecessary negativity. Look at the condition we are in because of decisions being taken/not taken when the government and RSS were not missing. I think their absence is positive and people should appreciate it.
In the first Covid wave, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that there were no migrants on the road, and the court believed him. In another hearing, the court observed that there were some migrants and asked what was the need to give wages/money to them when they were getting food? For the longest time, the court refused to do the one job it is supposed to: Protecting people’s fundamental rights.
This time it is different. After prolonged failure from the government, the top court has stepped in to handle oxygen allocation by forming a national task force. On Wednesday, the court observed that the government needs to have a plan to ensure food security and cheap transport options for migrant workers. It has directed the Delhi, UP and Haryana governments to give dry rations and open community kitchens for migrant workers stranded in NCR. There is much more that the apex court ought to do, but this is a welcome change. In all seriousness, the court not hesitating to hold the government accountable is a positive, welcome change.
Compared to the period between 2014 and 2020, a significant part of the press is taking the government to task, and relentlessly reporting the truth. Gujarat’s regional newspapers such as Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar are a shining example of this. I don’t say this because I write for the Times Group, but it must be noted that among the English newspapers, The Times of India was, to my mind, the first daily to fearlessly report the worsening Covid situation in India. The less said the better about the 9 pm TV news anchors though.
More positive news? The Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan governments have declared that they will be funding the cost of treatment of Covid patients even in private hospitals. Kerala has announced it will home deliver food to the needy. The Chattisgarh government has cancelled the tender for the new state Assembly building, deciding that at this time, funds are better used elsewhere.
In Delhi, boards prohibiting photography and video recording have come up at the Central Vista construction site. While many see negativity even in this, I don’t. I think we ought to see this as a sign that even as the government relentlessly goes ahead with construction at a time when we have been forced to accept foreign aid from countless countries, these boards tell me that it must be feeling ashamed and hence the attempt to hide the truth. Shame for one’s wrongdoings is a positive sign.
The Supreme Court had praised the Mumbai model of containing Covid-19 and asked the Centre to learn from it. Now even the central government has followed suit and has praised Pune for its success. As a recent resident of Maharashtra, I say – Jai Maharashtra!
The central government’s website for booking a vaccination slot is only in English, even as millions in India don’t know how to read English. It’s tool for vaccination distribution is a website, even as millions in India don’t have access to the internet. Many may see this as something negative; but I think this is a way for the Government of India to ensure that people become English-literate. It is also a way for the government to boost economies. Official data tells us millions don’t even have a smartphone or a computer; they will now have to buy one or die, so this will boost multiple sectors. There is always a silver lining.
Finally, and here I go back to being serious, I think the one truly positive thing happening in India is that democracy is healing. On that positive note, I wish you luck with finding a vaccine. Our central government was so positive about our not needing them that it did not order enough. Stay safe and remember, speaking the truth is a positive act.