Indias Kerala Is Combating COVID-19 Through Participatory Governance
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 28 May 2020 02:32
- Written by editor
~~~~~~~~~~~(((( T h e B u l l e t ))))~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2106 ... May 28, 2020
_____________________________________________
India’s Kerala Is Combating COVID-19 Through Participatory Governance
Yadul Krishna
The left-ruled Indian State of Kerala continues to remain in the global spotlight for its effective and efficient measures in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Kerala dominated the Indian news headlines, showing the rest of the world its potential, its strength and its humane approach, demonstrating an operative model that other states can follow. The Kerala government’s apt and adaptive state-interventionist strategy even garnered attention in the international media and in academic journals, including that of MIT and Oxford, which praised the robustness of the ‘Kerala Model’ of development.
In Kerala, over its formative years, the communist state government, along with its collective organizations and trade unions, played an instrumental role in building up a strong public sector, which has given the state the leverage to effectively control pandemics and natural disasters. With its almost 100 per cent literacy and its top Human Development Index (HDI) ranking, the state has always been receptive to and proactive in progressive change.
But this is just one... (rather important) part of the larger story. Kerala not only has an efficient government, but also has at its disposal a conscious and responsive society of people who are well aware that their role in this deadly fight is as important as that of the government. It is with this collective strength that the southern state of India survived the Nipah Virus and two great floods over the past two years.
In sharp contrast to the state of affairs in the rest of India, Kerala’s lead in the Covid fight has to do with its unique participatory governance, where people worked hand-in-glove with the government, complementing each other’s efforts. From providing food to conducting media briefs every day, the government made sure that the people were fed and well informed about the situation. In addition, various groups of people came forward to volunteer and made sure that the government policies were implemented on time and effectively in order to ‘break the chain’.
