The Centre and the states cannot shift responsibility and blame for migrant workers returning to their villages. They are victims of circumstances, not violators of lockdown. The Centre and the states must stop point-scoring and collaborate better to prevent a public health emergency from turning into a colossal humanitarian crisis.
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Cooperative federalism died when AAP won 67 seats in February 2015. Unremitting hostility between Centre and opposition ruled states. When Bengal has been radar locked as the next target, where is the question of any meaningful cooperation, even on matters of the gravest import. The government of Madhya Pradesh was brought down at the height of the Covid 19 crisis. Perhaps Parliament was kept going, ignoring health risks, to support that enterprise. 2. This pandemic is not going away any time soon. Fortunately, the action has now shifted almost entirely to the states – barring this transient issue of migrants returning home – which have a better record of governance, delivering essential commodities and services to citizens. Even here, the poor quality of some CMs is beginning to show up. An unceasing PR campaign is now meeting its most forbidding challenge.