How is India handling the pandemic? A conversation with Tathagata Satpathy

Although India faces numerous challenges – a huge population, rising unemployment, growing environmental vulnerabilities – there is general agreement that, despite many odds, democracy has not only survived but is now firmly entrenched in the social and political fabric of the country. In recent months, however, the country has been rocked by nationwide protests following the enactment of the Citizen Amendment Act in December 2019. And then Covid struck. On the 24th of March, Prime Minister Modi announced that the country was going into a three-week lockdown. The sheer scale of this nationwide lockdown affecting 1.3 billion people, was unprecedented. In subsequently extending the lockdown beyond the initial 3 weeks, the Prime Minister noted: “India didn’t wait for the problem to escalate. Instead, as soon as the problem appeared, we tried to stop it by making swift decisions. I can’t imagine what the situation would have been had such quick decisions not been taken”.In the initial weeks and months, the lockdown appeared to be working well but once it was gradually lifted, there was a surge in Covid cases. And many within India remain worried that the country’s healthcare system may not be able to tackle a crisis of such magnitude. But there is also growing evidence of how India has radically stepped up its Covid-testing capacity. And last year, an ambitious new health insurance plan was launched – the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, which aims to provide free health coverage to large groups in the country, Joining me to discuss India’s Covid response, health insurance policies, center-state relations in the country’s federal set-up, the role of political parties in promoting development and reducing poverty, and much much more is Mr. Tathagata Sathpathy. Tathagata Satpathy served four terms as Member of Parliament, representing the Dhenkanal constituency of the state of Orissa (also known as Odisha). Until recently, he was a member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) political party and was the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of the Indian parliament. In addition to being a politician, Mr. Satpathy is the owner and editor of the daily Odia newspaper, Dharitri, and the English daily, Orissa Post. Follow Tathagata Satpathy on TwitterFollow Dan Banik on TwitterIn Pursuit of Development on Twitter  Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/