Going vocal about local

The Aarogya Setu app is undoubtedly the biggest local produce during the corona crisis, but it may not be celebration time yet

Encouragement for being self-reliant is no doubt worthy of praise. But we should not mix self-reliance (or shunning over-reliance on China) with going local. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his lockdown 4.0 curtain-raiser address, celebrated all things local during the Covid-19 crisis, while urging citizens to go vocal about local. That brings us to these questions: Has India actually been self-reliant during the pandemic? And, is local the best way forward?

As mentioned by the PM himself, we had a very short supply of N95 masks initially and no personal protection (PPE) kit was manufactured at all. According to government estimates, India’s now producing 200,000 N95 masks and a similar number of PPE kits every day. However, India continues to get imported PPEs and masks from other parts of the world because it’s tough to meet the country’s vast requirement with only made-in-India stuff. Although thousands of kits imported from China were found defective, that hasn’t stopped us from exploring new avenues.

Come to ventilators, literally the lifeline for a serious Covid victim, and the scenario is grim. As India was running out of ventilators, the Union environment ministry relaxed the import policy for the device last month. It permitted import of second-hand ventilators till September 30. While some home-grown companies have risen to the occasion to make low-cost ventilators in the country, the medical system during a crisis cannot just depend on them.
 

The truth is, it takes time to scale up, even if a crisis like this is interpreted as an opportunity. After all, every opportunity comes with a lag time for it to turn into a success story. India needs global expertise and medical kits as much as any other country in the world. To think otherwise would be to mislead ourselves. We can think local, as the PM wishes us to, but that can only be in parallel and as a long-term strategy, not in isolation.

The PM was right in saying that medicines supplied by India have been a source of hope for other countries. He must have been referring to the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, for which export ban was partially lifted recently after US President Donald Trump wanted an urgent supply of the drug calling it a game changer. While India-manufactured hydroxychloroquine is used by medics in a limited way while dealing with Covid-19, we need the highest level of global collaboration for a vaccine or a drug as fast as possible, especially as experts are talking about a second wave. India can surely boast of its ayurvedic prowess, but the focus should not shift from science-based therapies, something that our best doctors and researchers are working 24X7 along with the global community.

As we have seen in the recent past, the people of this country came together to cheer Covid warriors. However, whether it’s lighting candles at our doorsteps or flashing mobile phones in our balconies, the show of solidarity has been inspired by similar gestures from around the world. If New Yorkers come together to clap for the frontliners at 7 pm, other cities like London and Paris too have been applauding their medical workers ever since the pandemic broke out. Reports suggest that it was in Wuhan (China), where it all began, that people have been cheering every evening since January.

In India, local businesses, especially neighbourhood stores and traders, have been at the forefront supplying essentials to the people during the lockdown, while the richly-funded (mostly with foreign money) e-commerce companies were busy procuring multiple passes and permissions to do business. Local kiranas are perhaps among the few businesses who could make a success of the opportunity during the crisis because of the nature of their scale, spread and networking. And the PM cannot be faulted for acknowledging their work at a difficult time, though he did not specifically mention traders. But to imagine that all local businesses can scale up during the current crisis to be able to transform India into a manufacturing hub, replacing China, is a bit much to expect.

Yes, this is a time for local stars to emerge across spheres. This is also a time for local administrations to prove their worth by controlling the coronavirus spread. But, this is no time to seal our borders with colour codes. Rather, this is the time to connect with the world like never before for that miracle vaccine and drug that everyone is waiting for. During this crisis, the Aarogya Setu app is undoubtedly the biggest local contribution. It might not be a bad idea to wait for some more achievements before going vocal about local.