Nagaland must reflect and reset during this God given time of quarantine

The crisis brought about by the virulent and deadly disease called Covid-19 is unprecedented in human history. This is a very difficult time for all of us. We pray that the world will come out stronger and better from all of this. In times like this, we must extend support and cooperation to the State government while also taking care of one another as a people.

We appeal that those leading the State machinery should be allowed to work without too much interference from the top. It is somewhat surprising that on the last day of the 21 day lockdown, honorable Governor of Nagaland was ordering to set up a ‘Covid-19 War Room’.

The duly elected government headed by the Chief Minister along with the State bureaucracy under the leadership of the Chief Secretary has been performing reasonably well despite the limitation of a debilitating system. While course correction wherever needed should happen, making extensive changes at this juncture may be detrimental.

Nevertheless we appreciate the support and help of the Governor in working out for the immediate airlift of critical equipments from Mumbai to Dimapur for fast track setting up of a BSL Laboratory in the state. As rightly mentioned by the Governor, this will enable the testing of suspected Covid 19 samples in the state instead of sending them to laboratories in Assam and Manipur as is being done until now.

On its part, the State government should do more to implement the message it has been relaying to ‘stay home stay safe’. The enormity of Covid-19 should not be taken lightly. The virus has ‘exponential potential’, meaning it spreads rapidly and could infect hundreds and lakhs of our small population. And to be very honest Nagaland’s medical/health system is poor and unprepared to face such an outbreak.

As per the updated guideline of the Union Home Ministry, the Chief Minister must ensure strict social distancing measures to be implemented for a further period to contain the spread of Covid-19. Social or charity work either by the political class and NGOs must be discouraged at this crucial stage of the pandemic.

Distribution of cooked food, dry rations and other relief materials should continue to be given out only by authorized local bodies and officials while following all norms. Citizens can get in touch with the local administration and help if they want to contribute without going out and endangering their lives as well as that of others.

On monetary assistance and other public funds, specifically related to Covid-19, the government should account for every single contribution and list them out in a transparent manner through regular disclosure. This will build confidence of the people on the system and also ensure timely and proper utilization of resources.

At a time when the entire security set up is focusing on the lockdown and people are also following the health advisory, the government should not forget to guard our land and borders from undesirable elements, including all forms of trafficking that is detrimental to health, social order and peace.

Much beyond the immediate concern of Covid-19, we also realise that what is happening right now is so powerful in other ways too. For the first time perhaps the world is focused on one problem. In Nagaland we are being forced to build and prepare. Our health infrastructure or the lack of it is getting exposed; our government system is being challenged to perform like never before.

The people of Nagaland have every right to question the poor level of preparedness in the State. After more than fifty years of statehood that the Civil Hospital in the commercial capital Dimapur has only one ventilator is nothing to be proud of. It’s a collective shame and a failure of successive governments, spanning more than 50 years. That the governments in the past and present could not procure and install more than one ventilator this last fifty years is a statistic of Himalayan proportion.

We pray that the challenging time we are going through due to the pandemic will also lead us to a new awakening, of accelerated change and a quantum leap into a new paradigm. A giant mirror is being held up before us. It feels like Covid-19 is orchestrating a rite of passage into a better future.

Nagaland must reflect and reset during this God given time of quarantine.  Our solidarity is with the government and people of Nagaland at this difficult time. God bless Nagaland.

Statement of The Naga Rising