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When People and Governments Come Together
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a test of the Indian state’s capacity to deal with the repercussions of a public health crisis. Kerala’s success, as it continues to draw strength from its political culture of participatory governance and its emphasis on social welfare, is elaborated. Some of the decentralised, scientific, and humane policy measures taken to contain the virus are also elucidated.
From a conversation with S M Vijayanand, former chief secretary of Kerala, on 14 April 2020.The School for Democracy has been conducting “Charchas,” a platform created for conversations defined by the participant’s concerns, for the last eight years. In a recent virtual “Charcha,” Vijayanand, was invited to share Kerala’s experience in containing COVID-19. The text of his conversation serves as the source and inspiration for writing this article.
Thomas Isaac, Kerala’s Finance Minister, writing in the Indian Express comparing Kerala’s record on COVID-19 with the rest of India, says:
The recovery rate in Kerala is nearly 50% while the all-India average is around 11. While the mortality rate among the infected is 0.5% in Kerala, the all-India average is 3.4%. The transmission rate of a primary carrier is 2.6 while in Kerala it is only 0.4. (Isaac 2020)
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