Zoetropic by Neelakshi Tewari

India has had a lot of time to prepare for this outbreak – it did not (chalo koi baat nahi – many countries have failed there). However, individual towns + states were already going into lockdown. Teething troubles of lockdowns such as citizen vigilantism, apartment complexes ostracizing people, delivery workers being beaten up etc.. were visible. Mass migration back to rural India was visible – creating its own pandora’s box of problems.

India had time to prepare for the #21DayLockdown – the lockdown instructions in themselves seem fairly standard so what was likely needed was clear clarifications on what these things actually mean. What we see:

1. The primetime 8 PM address giving people just 4 hours to sort their lives (compared to 48 hours to prepare for taali-thaali) – deja vu to demonetisation and probably to the forthcoming disaster. The dangerous throwing around of the word “curfew” loosely.

2. Very crucial points about essential services remaining open and hence there being no need to hoard – missing. Could easily lead to total panic on the streets. This government may thrive on panic, the public doesn’t.

3. 15000 crore for medical facilities is great news – how is it being spent? Where are the tests? We cannot start now – the bus is moving already..

4. Migrant/daily workers and their lives/economies – where is the plan for that?

5. Financial taskforce and the stimulus package – as Chidambaram said on twitter, India has the capacity to create a package in hours – why are we taking days?

Most importantly – the one thing truly appreciable about Modi is his oration and his ability to create a narrative. I also quite applaud his ability to think up gimmicks that make people feel involved (eg. the taali-thaali bit). Therefore, the question is this – How is THIS Prime Minister failing in communication when it matters the most? This address has done nothing to reassure people that India is in control, just created utmost panic. Was that the strategy? Does Modi truly not know how to communicate unless it is to create a sense of pointless panic that can be exploited for political gains? Is Modi’s communication limited to electioneering and actually useless when needed as a statesman and a leader? Is it impossible for him to deliver a strong, reassuring address that actually covers important details instead of regular blabbery?

Throwing around words like “curfew” (serious implications), not clarifying what it means to have essential services open but ‘no one should step out of the house’ diktat – is just poor communication. The confusion and panic, with heightened citizen vigilantism, can lead to a real mess and untold misery (not unlike demonetization). They don’t even need to re-create the wheel here – just look at notifications issued in USA – clearly telling people what they can and can’t do – not throwing around words like curfew and ‘no one is allowed to leave the house’!

This shows up in other situations too – the lack of press conferences (shouldn’t you have your propaganda down pat by now?), the lack of statements on serious issues in India (waiting to build the narrative), the monologue of ‘Mann ki Baat’ – but where is our leader and statesman when we need one?

I don’t know how things will be on the other side of coronavirus all over the world but one thing that is clear – this man is completely incapable of serious governance and crisis management. Just like demonetization (which was not even an urgent, time-bound announcement), far too many things will be clarified by notifications and new rules. Far too much panic to add to an already stressed out populace.

They only know how to create a crisis, not diffuse one.

Image credit: cdc.gov