ABSTRACT
The current corona pandemic divided both the health care service infrastructure and patients into two categories: Covid and non-Covid. Both in the health care system and research world, the COVID-19 cases are given utmost priority for all the right reasons. In this study we attempted to understand the challenges faced by the non-Covid patients, particularly from the poor communities, who suffer from multiple deprivations. This study is based on survey of 88 non-Covid patient households in Murshidabad, West Bengal carried out in June 2020. The results show that the majority of the non-Covid patients were not able to access public health care due to lockdown which, in turn, results in increasing out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) on both medical and non-medical heads (like transportation). This OOPE aggravated the plight of the household more intensely when income of the household suffered severely due to the lockdown. To meet the household expenditure including OOPE households had to come under the clutch of money lenders mortgaging their small piece of agriculture land and gold-ornaments, and selling assets, and draining out their savings. Women from poor households tend to become ‘triple-deprived’ due to unequal sharing of poverty and with their meagre assets mortgaged. This piece of work may add to the insights to multi-dimensional deprivations of people during calamity like the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Indranil De, Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, and Kingshuk Sarkar;individual chapters, the contributors.
ABSTRACT
This chapter studies the Government’s response to the pandemic in terms of lockdown, provision of health care, and vaccination as a preventive measure. It analyses how these responses were distinct between different segments of society – rich and poor, formal and informal, urban and rural, and well-connected and ill-connected. The chapter uses two theoretical lenses for analysis: ‘Rawls’ Difference Principle’ – social and economic inequality leading to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged members of society;and ‘Elite Capture and Political Clientelism’ – powerful elite influencing public policy and public benefits being privatized in return of political support. A brief analysis of lockdown showed how the Government priorities were skewed against migrant workers and informal economy. Similarly, the provision of COVID-19 health care is bound to be lagging in rural areas considering the shortfalls in health facilities and human resources in rural areas. The vaccination drive in the country also demonstrated Government’s lack of urgency at one end and vaccine hesitancy of the citizens at the other. By bringing in theoretical underpinning to these phenomena, the chapter argues that learnings from these understanding would be helpful in management and governance of the current and future waves of the pandemic or such similar disaster. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Indranil De, Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, and Kingshuk Sarkar;individual chapters, the contributors.
ABSTRACT
This chapter is a prelude to the book. It provides an overview of the book with its approach, theoretical background, and relevance of the chapters. A pandemic constrains human freedom in many ways. The COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized freedom of movement and access to employment, health care, and basic public services. The different chapters of the book show how the pandemic has adversely affected almost all sectors of the economy, multitude of lives in variety of ways. The findings from different chapters of the book have been discussed in this chapter from the perspective of different unfreedoms or lack of freedoms imposed by the pandemic, and how these unfreedoms feed on to each other. The role of institutions and public policies in unleashing unfreedom, which forms the meat of the book, has also been discussed. Taking a cue from the rest of the chapters, this chapter also discusses the policy implications which may become important knowledge to deal with the pandemic or any similar emergencies in the future. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Indranil De, Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, and Kingshuk Sarkar;individual chapters, the contributors.
ABSTRACT
This book looks at the institutional and governance issues faced by India during the frst and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse impact on the vulnerable sectors and groups. The book is split into four parts, with preceding chapters informing later ones. Part One outlines the approach of the study, in particular their examination of policy responses and the effect of the pandemic. Part Two delves into the governance challenges in containing the pandemic while giving the theoretical rationale for institutional responses. Part Three looks at how the pandemic affected economically vulnerable households, workers, and small industries. The effect of pandemic on the informal sector is also detailed. Lastly, Part Four examines the impacts and responses of Indian public infrastructure and services to the pandemic, in particular the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care and schooling. It also explores the challenges caused by infrastructure inadequacies in Indian cities. The book closes by looking at how businesses in the private sector have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility. The book will be a useful reference to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who are interested in institutions and development, especially in the context of India. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Indranil De, Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, and Kingshuk Sarkar;individual chapters, the contributors.