Deepening worry over diminishing freedoms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a big pitch for a new, self-reliant India in his address to the nation on Independence Day from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort.  

But across the country, many voiced concerns on that day over the future of democracy.

Some of India’s best known social activists have been in jail for several years in cases of a political nature, about the genuineness of which doubts persist.

In his speech, Modi reminded the people that on the next Independence Day India will step into its 75th year as a free nation.

The Covid-19 pandemic subdued this year’s celebrations. The total number of cases exceeded 2.5 million. Active cases numberede more than 670,000.

A directive by the Indian Council for Medical Research to a company working on a Covid vaccine in early July had led to speculation that the government was pressing it to come up with its product in time for the Prime Minister to make an announcement on I-Day.

Modi, in his speech, only said three vaccines were being developed in India and they would be rushed to patients when ready for release.

Modi spoke of a new health-related scheme under which every Indian will get a digital health card which will contain his entire medical record.

While it sounds impressive, it does not appear to be the right kind of scheme to push at this stage as it does not address issues like paucity of doctors and hospital beds and high price of drugs.

Doctor-people ratio in India is only 1:1456 against 1:1000 recommended by the World Health Oraganisation. It is widely known that practitioners of modern medicine remain in the cities, and villagers experience acute shortage of qualified personnel.

According to World Bank data, India had 0.7 hospital beds for 1,000 people in 2011. The figure has gone down since then: it was 0.6 in 2015 and 0.5 in 2017.

The corresponding figure for China was 4.2 and for the US 2.9. India was abysmally below the world average of 2.7.

The decline in the ratio in the last decade testifies to the government’s failure to raise the number of hospital beds as the population rose.

The regulatory system has not been able to ensure that the poor have access to hospital facilities and medicine.

Health cards are no substitute for health care.

The scheme appears to be one conceived by hi-tech personnel in their own interests rather than those of the people. If bureaucrats and politicians do some homework they will find that the people will benefit more if the government spends its limited resources on improvement of medical facilities, especially in areas far removed from the urban centres.  

Modi brought up all his current slogans like Ek Bharat, Sheshta Bharat (One India, Great India) and Atmanirbhar India (Self-Reliant India).  He expanded the older “Make in India” slogan with the addition of “Make for the World”. However, he spelt out no idea or line of action to translate these slogans into reality.

His talk of self-reliance does not carry much conviction as his government  has sold or abandoned several public sector institutions which were built by earlier administrations with that objective in view.

No nation can achieve greatness without internal cohesion. In the last six years Modi, his Bharatiya Janata Party and its mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have done considerable damage to the national fabric by relentlessly pushing divisive politics for short-term gains.  

Modi exudes happiness over his government’s performance so far. He has a Hindutva following ready to applaud him without looking at the rights and wrongs of his actions. But he cannot ignore much longer the fact that things are going wrong on all fronts – political, economic and social.

There is a stalemate on issues like Citizenship norms and the constitutional status of  Jammu and Kashmir. The three-and-a-half-month- old India-China standoff in Ladakh is continuing with no end in sight.

On many issues, Modi is unable to take any new initiative as he has painted himself into a corner.

He still has two advantages: an effete opposition and a helpful Judiciary.

The setback in Rajasthan, where the Congress foiled the BJP’s bid to topple its government, suggests the party’s luck may be running out.  

Modi must take note of the deepening concern in the country and abroad over the abridgement of freedoms under his watch and summon the courage to take corrective measures.