By M L Satyan
Bengaluru, April 14, 2020: Covid-19 pandemic has taught us many ‘mantras’ — clean your hands, wear mask, follow social distancing, stay alone, stay at home and observe lakshman rekha. The most popular among them is ‘hand wash.’
There are two meanings for hand wash – one: cleanliness; two: disowning the responsibility. An example from the Bible – “When Pilate saw that it was no use to go on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!” (Mat.27:24).
Let me mention some types of hand wash – i.e. disowning responsibility.
Type-1: When Covid-19 started spreading in China in December 2019, the Indian government did not take this matter seriously. It just washed its hands.
Type-2: When the opposition parties raised the Covid-19 issue in the parliament in early February, the ruling party mocked at them and washed its hands.
Type-3: In early March the World Health Organization cautioned countries, but India’s health minister said the Covid-19 was not a health crisis and washed his hands.
Type-4: When the prime minister announced the ‘unplanned national lockdown,’ millions were terribly affected. Both the prime minister and the home minister disowned the negative consequences such a sudden lockdown and washed their hands.
Type-5: The prime minister’s third national address in the wake of coronavirus on April 14 contained a 7-point appeal. Everything sounded quite ridiculous. A panchayat-level officer could have announced all that. The nation does not require a prime minister for this task.
Daily wagers and the poor have been starving in the past 20 days. The prime minister had no welfare measures for them. The doctors, nurses and health workers have been struggling day and night, without proper PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and other medical equipment, to treat the covid-19 infected. The prime minister washed his hands and disowned his responsibilities towards them.
Type-6: Every state has a few corporate companies. They could have funded a few select states directly. Instead, most corporate giants donated to the newly created “PM Cares” fund. They too have disowned their responsibilities towards their states.
Type-7: Neither the federal nor the state governments (except Kerala) are serious in setting up of Covid-19 Testing Centres and acquiring the essential PPEs for the doctors, nurses and paramedical workers. The state governments say, “We have sent our requests to the central government and we are waiting for the Rapid Test Kits and PPEs.”
Type-8: Many doctors and nurses live in rented accommodation. Some house owners have refused to allow them to their premises. This has forced some doctors to convert their cars into their ‘dwelling places.’ The hard-heartened house owners have washed their hands.
Type-9: The education department of state governments is clueless about the re-opening of schools/colleges/universities. The students who are yet to write their exams are in dark. Some educational institutions now conduct ‘online classes.’ Only 60 percent students have internet facilities in their houses. The rest, mostly in rural areas, have no access to these classes. The authorities have washed their hands saying, “We cannot do anything for these students.”
Type-10: The contractors and the employers have washed their hands of their responsibility towards their migrant laborers.
Type-11: The NDTV interviewed such laborers at various places in the national capital. A woman had delivered a child a few days ago in her temporary shed. She and her husband were shown crying, “Sir, we are dying of hunger.” Some other laborers said, “We are surviving by one time food packet distributed by some volunteers.” It proves that the Delhi government, which claims of a party of common man (aam admi) has washed its hands by not feeding these hungry people.
Type-12: When the migrant laborers reached their states after walking kilometers, the local administration washed its hands and did not exercise their responsibility of taking care of these laborers. Many villages refused to let these people in and the village panchayat washed its hands.
Type-13: A woman in Uttar Pradesh threw her five children into the Ganges and jumped into the water after a fight with her husband over money and food. She later swam to the river bank. When this issue came to limelight, the local administration washed its hands saying, “We had no information about the condition of this family”.
Type-14: Many banks collect EMIs for home loans and personal loans even during the lockdown period. The bank authorities have washed their hands saying, “We have no clear instruction from the RBI”.
Type-15: A Tamil TV channel showed a ration shop in Tamil Nadu where an elderly woman went with her BPL card hoping to get the ration. The ration shop owner washed his hands saying, “Sorry, there is no supply of ration for this card.”
Type-16: On April 12 another Tamil TV channel showed interviews with some footpath dwellers in Chennai. They said they received food packets at least once a day from some volunteers. Asked whether the government had done anything for them they replied, “The government has washed its hands. We have voted for them but they have abandoned us. It is our fate.”
The question we should ask now is: “Do I disown my duty and responsibility by washing my hands as a coward?” If we can say no, we will have peace of mind.