This is what Modi needs to do make his govt accountable in the Covid crisis

Kanti Gopal Kovvali says PM Modi can still abide by his 'Raj Dharma' if he is open with the public and media

By
Kanti Gopal Kovvali
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File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi | PTI

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One can appreciate the spirited response of Central Government to the Supreme Court labelling the judicial intervention as overzealous. It is smart on the Government’s part to push back and not accept accountability to the Supreme Court. ‘Stay within your boundaries’ was the Central Government’s polite message or else ‘be ready for unforeseen and unintended consequences’ was the not so polite one. Afterall, aggression is the best defence. Well done BJP and the tri-moortis – Mr. Modi, Mr. Amit Shah and Dr Harshvardhan. 

The primary reason why Supreme Court came into the picture is because the Central Government’s preparation, its response to the Covid second wave, adequacy of vaccine production and roll out were sub-par.  They aggravated the crisis by ignoring social distancing rules and letting the two super spreader events – Kumbh mela and the election campaigns. This apart, they did not partner with civil society, state governments or private sector to handle the second wave and vaccinations. The Central Government wanted to do it alone and take full credit. This macho leadership thinking piloted us into a big mess and the Central Government wants us now to ignore the debris.  Accountability is non-negotiable, especially if Modi still considers himself as ‘Pradhan Sevak’ in the sphere of public service. He and his government need to account for their incompetent performance resulting in unnecessary trauma and extraordinary number of deaths in the last 2-4 weeks.

The question is, if not to the Supreme Court, whom does the Central Government wants to be accountable to? 

In this article I am sharing some accountability options for Modi and his government.

  1. Hold a televised press meeting every day where Modi, Amit Shah and Harshvardhan answer tough questions from the press. The press meetings cannot be conveniently left to experts and doctors. We cannot make them scapegoats. Afterall, no Doctor or Expert would have told Modi to advance the dates of Kumbh mela, allow crores of people for the holy dip, and conduct election campaigns with massive crowds. Leaders do not create mess and leave it for others to clean up. Definitely not those with a 56-inch chest and a 10-inch beard. Instead of standing behind the curtains and avoiding scrutiny, it is time for Modi to face the press. Enough of Man ki Baat. It is time for Press se Baat.
  2. A similar press meeting should happen every evening for an hour with the District Collector, SP and Medical Officer. This should be telecasted on local cable television.
  3. Put all the covid related data online and make it available to public in real time. Allow updating by hospitals to ensure data integrity. We need real data of Covid cases, Covid deaths, Oxygen cylinder availability, vaccines available, 1st dose vaccinations and 2nd dose vaccinations. Once government give up their right to match fix data, they will find the entire government machinery focussed on finding solutions to the problems. Today the entire bureaucratic machinery is hiding behind the opacity of the government. Once transparency is ensured, accountability – the cornerstone of democracy will prevail. 
  4. Ask civil society to be a devil’s advocate on the government’s covid policy. Mandate the health ministry to engage with the civil society and encourage a healthy debate within a time frame. Let covid policies and programs be made with multi stakeholder feedback so that ministers and secretaries do not formalize their biases into public policies and programs. Let no policy or program be sanctioned without the consensus of the various stakeholders. The cost of a bad policy is significantly higher than the additional time required for a sound decision.
  5. There are 68 ministers (including the prime minister) at the Center. Let each one of them   be accountable to 10 Members of Parliament for COVID support for their constituencies. The MPs can engage with the local government, civil society and the private sector in their constituencies and take the help of their contact minister as required.

By making oneself accountable and hence vulnerable, Modi Government can actually become stronger and more popular. Not doing so, will dent our democracy.

Any crisis of this magnitude is a great opportunity to strengthen our democratic values. It is an occasion to step out of class, caste, communal, gender and age barriers and use the crisis as an excuse to become a better society. The post Covid pandemic world will be very different and the government will need the collaboration of everyone. This is possible only if the government is willing to be humble, accepting of mistakes and is accountable to our democracy. 

On the first of June in 2002, the then Prime Minister Vajpayee reminded an ambitious Chief Minister of Raj Dharma. It is never too late to pay head to a right advice.

These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.