Healthcare: Our Right and State’s Responsibility

 By Deeptish Thapa (the author is a student of 11th class)

                                                                                                        Source: BBC News

The total number of cases, which shows a worrying rise in the second wave of the pandemic, now stands at more than fifteen million. In the last few days itself, India is registering thousands of Covid-19 deaths and millions of new cases. The basic healthcare infrastructure in India is crippling causing a situation of anxiety among the citizens and we are witnessing both the citizens and the government at fault for it. While it is the need of the hour to find the solution of this healthcare crisis, it is also important to fix the responsibility on which this article focuses.    

 

It is a well-known phrase that there is nothing wrong with making mistakes but one should always make new ones, repeating mistakes is a hallmark of dim consciousness. This is apt for our present central government which is making similar mistakes since the advent of Covid-19 in January 2020 in India.  Nonetheless, it is the duty of the 'State' to provide basic healthcare facilities to the citizens of the country. The Article 47 of Indian Constitution states, "The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and improvement of public health as among its primary duties." This is not just a Directive Principle of State Policy, this is the most basic and vital duty of the State to work on.  Similarly, Article 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950 provides that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law". ‘Life’, here is not merely the physical act of breathing. It does not connote mere animal existence or continued drudgery through life. It has a much wider meaning which includes the right to live with human dignity, right to livelihood, right to health, right to pollution-free air, etc. Indeed, the right to life is fundamental to our very existence without which we cannot live as human beings and includes all those aspects of life, which go to make a person’s life meaningful, complete, and worth living. It is the only article in the Constitution that has received the widest possible interpretation. Under the canopy of Article 21, so many rights have found shelter, growth, and nourishment. Thus, the bare necessities, minimum and basic requirements that are essential and unavoidable for a person is the core concept of the right to life.

The second wave of Covid-19 is spreading much faster, which is visible in the graph, exposing the situation of our health care system. It is evident from the deficiency of oxygen and lack of beds in the hospitals in India’s capital where the health infrastructure is relatively better.  Moreover, this shortage of oxygen is accepted by the chief minister of Delhi where he blames the central government for not providing adequate oxygen. His tweet reads “In view of sharply increasing cases, Delhi needs much more than normal supply. Rather than increasing supply, our normal supply has been sharply reduced and Delhi’s quota has been diverted to other states”. However, the center has responded with a suggestion, of managing the demand for oxygen. In other parts of India the situation might be grimmer, but who is here to own the responsibility.

              

The situation is aggravated when along with the health the poor management of the crisis is severely impacting the livelihood of people. Once again lockdowns are forcing workers out of work and lower wages. For the migrant workers, the second wave is bringing back the horror of earlier state apathy when they were forced to walk for hundreds and thousands of kilometers.

 

In the last one years, India’s health infrastructure is only nominally improved and there is no substantial growth in the national health budget which remains at 1.6 % of the GDP even amid a pandemic. Apart from the lack of development in building health infrastructure the government has practically provided immunity to the political leaders and their followers from following social distancing norms and wearing masks.

 

               The irresponsibility of the government is pointed at by the Allahabad High Court while making a remark for not taking adequate preparatory steps by the government. The court while ordering lockdown in 5 cities of Uttar Pradesh states "even after one long year of experience and learning". "It is a shame that while the Government knew of the magnitude of the second wave it never planned things in advance". The court has also remarked that "In any civilized society if the public health system is not able to meet the challenges and people die for want of proper medication, it means there has been no proper development. Health and education go side-by-side. Those in the helm of affairs of governance are to be blamed for the present chaotic health problems and more so when there is a democracy which means a government of the people, by the people and for the people".

 

Instead of indulging in non-scientific symbolism like banging Thalis or lightning diyas, this country should focus on the development of scientific temper so that ordinary citizen can understand the role of healthcare system and hold the government responsible.