{"id":103227,"date":"2021-04-26T10:05:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T04:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=103227"},"modified":"2021-04-26T20:42:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T15:12:12","slug":"importance-of-decentralised-approach-in-tackling-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/importance-of-decentralised-approach-in-tackling-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of Decentralised Approach in Tackling the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Synopsis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first wave of Covid 19 highlighted the importance of a local and decentralised approach in tackling the adverse impact of the Pandemic. The government should focus on this approach to minimize the vulnerabilities for the poor and marginalized in the second wave.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Background<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the second wave of Covid 19 pandemic, the marginalised and vulnerable people are craving for the government&#8217;s support.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pandemic struck the country in 2020 and highlighted the poor condition of India\u2019s economic system. This was followed by a series of lockdowns that brutally impacted the informal sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Dismal State of Indian Economy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">90% of the Indian economy is composed of the informal sector that provides no social security benefits or job security.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since 1991, there has been jobless growth\u201d in the formal sector and the new liberalisation policies showed little respect to ecological needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A surge in the size of the informal workforce has been occurred as:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State policies have been formulated to serve the interests of the capitalist\/industrial class. This is proven as the richest 5 percent of Indians now earn as much as the remaining 95 per cent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The caste, class, and gender discrimination in society doesn\u2019t allow social mobility.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lack of governmental efforts to make agriculture a lucrative profession<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Displacement of people due to dams, mining, express ways, etc. projects with poor or no rehabilitation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Very few informal workers enjoy some degree of security. These include the ones whose resource base (land, nature, tools, etc.) is intact or those who are able to access the benefits of the MGNREGA scheme.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite such poor conditions, some alternate local models provided a ray of hope for poor people.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Successful Alternate Local Models during the Pandemic<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dalit women of the Deccan Development Society (DDS) ensured sustained food access for numerous villages of Telangana in 2020.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community health systems in Sittilingi panchayat, Tamil Nadu played a pivotal role in reducing the Covid spread.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Assam, Farm2Food worked with several thousand students to continue local food growing in schools and communities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beejotsav Nagpur, the Gurgaon Organic Farmers\u2019 Market, and others ensured that farm produce reached a local consumer base. This averted economic collapse for thousands of farmers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Lessons from these models<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Local Self-reliance and Localised exchange of goods<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are more effective in giving livelihood security than encouraging inter-state migrations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The focus should be on <\/span><b>incentivizing local communities. <\/b>While the present focus is on <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">big industry players producing household goods like soaps, footwear, furniture, etc.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will generate additional sources of livelihood apart from agriculture and would create cheaper goods.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Creation of buffer opportunities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is desirable to relieve the communities from undue stress in difficult times.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, Maati (a women\u2019s collective) has created a buffer of ecotourism for farmers and craftspersons in Uttarakhand.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Way Forward<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government should <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">reconsider its current industry-centric approach<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, reconsidering the three farm laws which may give agricultural control to corporates. It will create an even bigger pool of exploitable labour.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The model of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat needs reconsideration. It is actually increasing the control of distant markets and companies over people\u2019s lives.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The focus must be on <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">decentralized and localized models<\/span>.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance,<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> Kerala\u2019s Kudumbashree programme<\/span> enabled dignified livelihoods for several million women. This resulted in the rural revitalization and reduced outmigration.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, the Local self-reliance has to go along with worker control over the means of production, more direct forms of democracy (swaraj), and struggles to eliminate casteism and gender discrimination. This would imply &#8211;\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better implementation of 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendment to strengthen local democracy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better implementation of laws like the Forest Rights Act that provide greater ownership of forest resources to the tribals<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In central India, some communities had legal control over surrounding forests, and mobilised towards adivasi swasashan (self-rule). They survived the COVID lockdown much better than those who did not have such control.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adherence to the above steps will ensure economic security in one\u2019s own village and town. This would prevent millions from going back to insecure, undignified jobs in cities and industrial zones.<br \/>\n<b>Source<\/b>: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/opinion\/columns\/cornavirus-pandemic-india-informal-sector-economy-7285193\/\">Indian Express <\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Synopsis: The first wave of Covid 19 highlighted the importance of a local and decentralised approach in tackling the adverse impact of the Pandemic. The government should focus on this approach to minimize the vulnerabilities for the poor and marginalized in the second wave. Background: Under the second wave of Covid 19 pandemic, the marginalised&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/importance-of-decentralised-approach-in-tackling-the-pandemic\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Importance of Decentralised Approach in Tackling the Pandemic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10322,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[1414],"class_list":["post-103227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-soc_4","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":1700773717,"cached_date":1704812698},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103227\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}