COVID-19 Just a Health Crisis or More?

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused large-scale loss of life and relentless human suffering. The pandemic has not just astonished epidemiologists but democracies as well. 84 countries have declared a state of emergency since the pandemic began: a gateway to autocracy, according to COVID-19 State of Emergency Data by the UN’s Centre for Civil and Political Rights. It is a public health crisis without precedent in living memory, which is testing our collective capacity to reply. Media is so occupied by the public health and economic consequences of COVID-19 that they have failed to pay enough attention to growing governmental and institutional risks. In fact, if we aren't careful, the most important casualty of COVID-19 might be a democracy.

Rigorous yet essential measures being applied to contain the virus, are pushing us into an unprecedented “deep freeze” state, from which emergence will not be straightforward or automatic. The foremost priority is to lessen the loss of life and health. But the pandemic has also set in motion other major crisis that will burden our societies for years to come.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON EDUCATION 

The pandemic has expanded inequalities like never before. The Pandemic has left a critical impact on children’s education, particularly of those from marginalised sections. Besides the disruption in the school year, there is a risk that prolonged out-of-school learning may lead to the withdrawal of children from the school systems. Disruptions in the continuity of schooling for girls and children of those who migrated back from urban to rural areas after losing livelihoods, post the sudden imposition of the lockdown.

The big changes to education in the COVID-19 is digital and online education which is a concern that will have a huge impact on children coming from vulnerable sections. National Sample Survey Office 2014-2015 data clearly shows economic factors as key to children dropping out of school. 14 lakh migrant workers, as well as others working in the unorganised sector, are impacted due to the pandemic. In such a situation, blatant emphasis on technology-driven education will exclude many children in this country from continuing school education. In India internet penetration is 36 per cent, internet users per 100 stand at 78, fixed broadband subscription per 100 stands at 1.34, and 46 per cent of households have televisions. In short, there are many challenges connected with the accessibility of education owing to the existing digital divide. Also, what's the need to get into facts and figures when you can just look around yourself? See around you how many of your friends, colleagues etc are having proper internet connectivity at their native place? If you often go outside your homes just to get a proper network you know what we are here talking about.

LIVELIHOOD AMID PANDEMIC

In the history of mankind, protection of life and livelihood has always been the primary objectives of the society and the state. Livelihood is at the core of life. Indian Constitution also specifies livelihood as an essential part of life. Lockdown has physically disrupted economic activities and prevented people from earning their livelihood. IMF predicts, at the end of the pandemic 500 million people are likely to be pushed below the poverty line. Globally the loss is estimated to be around $ 9 Trillion. India loses Rs 35,000 crore per day of lockdown. On a rough estimate, 120 million people in India have temporarily lost their jobs. Unorganized informal sectors have been hard hit with 65 million in construction; 50 million in travel, tourism and hospitality; 47 million in retail; 70 lakh in food processing and 15 lakh in e-commerce, etc.

The need of the hour is a collective action by government, industry, trade bodies and civil society to protect livelihood as is being done in protecting life. An actual standard for measuring the success of a state in the management of COVID-19 should not only be limited to protecting life but also to protecting livelihood as life and livelihood are the two sides of the same coin. If you or the head of your family is receiving a salary or earning revenue through business these days then you're lucky mate because out in the world people are losing their jobs, are not getting paid, are not able to run their business, are running out of their savings which they saved for their children's education or marriage or some kinda health treatment by spending it on just buying necessary goods of daily use and maybe your education fees.

MIGRANT LABOUR CRISIS AND THE ROAD AHEAD 

Lockdown restrictions putting a stop to conveyance forced thousands of empty-handed migrant workers without any work and resources to walk or cycle a thousand kilometres to travel back to their native villages. Many of them were arrested for violating the lockdown, after being caught at inter-state borders, forests between states and even on boats to cross rivers. Some of the migrants died of exhaustion. According to reports  378 people died since the lockdown was imposed due to reasons other than COVID-19. Among them, 69 people died in rail or road accidents while walking to their homes.

Migrant workers who chose to stay back during the exodus faced assault from their neighbours, who accused them of being contaminated with the coronavirus. Many also faced police brutality if they tried to go out of their homes. Upon their return to their hometowns, they were treated with either fear or a "class prejudice", being hosed down with disinfectants or soap solution in some cases. They were feared to be bringing coronavirus from the urban areas where they had been employed.  You might be offended by being called as a classist but ask yourself, Do you have separate utensils for your maid? Does your society have a separate elevator for the maids, sweepers, etc? Do you ever object at this prejudice? If no, then you qualify for being called as a classist.

MENTAL HEALTH AND LOCKDOWN

The Coronavirus pandemic stirred death and destruction globally. Not to forget the emotional and mental destruction Covid-19 has caused to millions of people, especially those living with an anxiety disorder. After the Covid-19 outbreak, during lockdown 1.0 itself, the Indian Psychiatric Society reported that mental health concerns have increased by an alarming 20%, with an unprecedented rise in psycho-social concerns. Our mental health infrastructure is as it is woefully incompetent. We have 1 psychiatrist for every 3 lakh people, 1 psychologist per 15,000 people and only 26,000 hospital bed. In the lockdown, providing mental health care has become a logistical nightmare.

 A lot of people brush it off saying “anxiety” is nothing but just a “phase” or “overthinking”. As a consequence, many people continue to suffer silently without any help in even normal times then how do we expect one to explain the pain, misery, uncertainty, fear or feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that one is going through in these testing times? 

GENDER INEQUALITY 

Life during the coronavirus lockdown has reinforced gender inequality across the world with research emphasising that the economic and social consequences of the crisis are far greater for women and threaten to push them back to traditional roles within the home which they're going to struggle to shake off once it's over. The nature of gender inequality at homes is cyclical, which suggests only young girls are taught household tasks. This has become a medium for their exploitation – both physically and mentally – after their marriage.

After the lockdown came into effect around the world and families have been spending more time together, growth in reports of domestic violence has been observed. Sadly, the National Commission for Women has recorded a 100% rise in domestic violence cases across the country. However, a Minister of the Central government has denied the claims also it should be noted that this denial of claims came amid when Justice NV Ramana, the second-most senior judge in the Supreme Court, noted that the pandemic "affected rights of women, children, and senior citizens".

The mounting data of violence at homes categorically suggests that as families spend a long time together, gender inequality has become more obvious. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one out of three women in the world experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, making domestic violence “the most far-reaching but least reported human rights abuse”. Indeed, this is an unusual time. However, the condition of women and girls locked in their homes isn't unusual.

CONCLUSION 

Firstly, what governments should learn from the Covid-19 pandemic is to focus more on healthcare. Health care should become a political issue on which elections are contested because only then political accountability can be set for those in power to make the healthcare systems reliable. Sanitation and hygiene also must become core political and electoral issues. And access to clean water and soap should also become a part of Swachh Bharat Mission. Secondly, the government should redefine its duties towards its citizens, increasing its role to include universal social welfare for all citizens. Thirdly, more importance should be given to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), states should register farm and small enterprises and assure that they start to receive funds to re-start their farms and the businesses that shut down due to loss and debt due after the lockdown was imposed. Strategies should develop to create entry-level, mid-level and low-end jobs in large numbers, mostly in rural and semi-urban areas to ensure employment for the large number of youth sitting idle at their homes without any work. The intergovernmental relationship should be improved a bit more because a collective response is stronger than an individual response is it a pandemic or while policymaking and various instances like that of the migrant crisis showed us that there's room for improvement in the intergovernmental relationship. Speaking of post-COVID education government needs to cater to the evolved demand and supply trends in the education sector. School education needs strengthening the capacity of the teachers towards digital mode and mechanisms of teaching and in case of higher learning, the standards of online education need to be raised.

Invisible Sexism

Sexism means discrimination based on sex or gender or the belief that because men are

superior to women, discrimination is justified. Such a belief can be conscious or unconscious. 

In sexism, as in racism, the differences between two (or more) groups are viewed as indications that one group is superior or inferior. Sexist discrimination against girls and women is a means of maintaining male domination and power. Oppression or discrimination can be economic, political, social, or cultural.

Some feminists have argued that sexism is the primal, or first, a form of oppression in humanity and that other oppressions are built on the foundation of oppression of women.

The word "sexism" became widely known during the women's liberation movement of the 1960s. At that time, feminist theorists explained that the oppression of women was widespread

in nearly all human society, and they began to speak of sexism instead of male chauvinism.

Whereas male chauvinists were usually individual men who expressed the belief that they were superior to women, sexism referred to collective behaviour that reflected society as a whole.

The Boys Lockerroom Case

An Instagram chat group called ‘Bois Locker Room’, with hundreds of boys from south Delhi, was allegedly used for sharing photos of underage girls, objectifying them, and promoting rape culture, revealed a user on Twitter on Sunday, 3 May. A day later on Monday, a Delhi schoolboy was taken into custody by the police.

The incident has reignited online conversations about toxic masculinity, the prevalence of rape culture and the young age at which It is permeated as well as calls for punishment and accountability for the accused. The outrage was appreciated by many, many of the netizens considered it as empowerment, but there were a few of us who had a little different perspective. This outrage was often regarded as selective criticism by the netizens. It may sound offensive and negative but the facts state this is the harsh reality of today's world.

When women are harassed on social media platforms, and in premises which we consider aso ur habitat. We feel the threat personally. But when a Dalit woman is raped and hanged we don't see that as unsettling. When poor women are harassed daily we consider it as a routine we spare a second to shed a tear and get back to normalcy and some cases even a second isn't spared. We don't outrage enough and feel the threat personally when we don't belong to the same identity axis as them.

The Overlooked Incidents

According to a report by, Human Rights Watch, Four Dalit Women are raped every day. But do we know or are well versed with such cases or incidents? The answer is No! Every time a poor or lower caste women are raped, the incident doesn't make it to the news nor electronic nor social media unless the incident takes a horrendous turn. And by horrendous I mean when the rape victim is murdered, either by being hanged on a tree or by burning her alive. A New Indian Express report said that according to the 2016 National Crime Records Bureau data, of all crimes committed against the members of the Scheduled Castes, the highest is against Dalit women.

Now moving from the underdeveloped rural area to modern cosmopolitan cities. 

The JNU Protests in November on the hostel fee hike which shook the country was followed by a lot of online social media bashing of JNU students. Many social media trolls shared misinformation about the protesting JNU students and their lifestyle which was shared widely by other netizens believing them to be true. Women were especially targetted by the trolls. Photos of female students smoking or while being in the state of intoxication were widely shared and derogatory remarks on their character were made all over the social media openly but did it made it to the mainstream? No, because those students didn't share the same identity axis or maybe differences of ideology compelled all of us to shut our senses and ignore the open female bashing and rampant sexism.

And it's not about these particular students only. The Media Houses who don't bring such stories to mainstream also are infected by the virus of sexism. A survey conducted by the Network of Women in Media, India, and Gender at Work, found that over one-third of respondents had experienced some form of sexual harassment at their workplaces and over half of them did not report the incident. Also, a large percentage of respondents had never attended a training workshop on sexual harassment, as required by the law. Over a third (36 per cent) of all respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment at their workplaces. Of the respondents who experienced sexual harassment at work, more than half (53 per cent) did not report it to anyone. 

In the last few years, the employment rate of women engineer has worsened from 35% in 2005 to 26% in 2018, said a survey by the Society of Women Engineers and the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. Engineers play a very important role in the development of society and nation. Engineers of different disciplines help in their respective ways so that our society progresses forward. But these figures show Engineers aren't being progressive and they are also stuck with the age-old disease of Sexism.

Disregarded Sexist Politics. 

Politicians are the representatives of the people. Their role as a politician is to make policies, amend laws and give voice to the problems face by the people for the improvement and betterment of people and society. "Betterment of People and Society." Sounds nice? Gives positive vibes? Absolutely it gives good vibes. But, are they doing the betterment thing? Well, I will leave it to you to assume and judge with the help of these few reports.

Nearly 100 Indian women politicians faced abuse, including rape and death threats, on social media during elections last year, with researchers on Thursday raising concerns over rising online violence against women globally. A study by Amnesty International India said 95 female politicians received nearly 1 million hateful mentions on Twitter between March and May, one in five of which was sexist or misogynistic. In all, there were 724 women candidates. Digital rights experts said gender-based online violence was increasing which was intimidating women and deterring them from putting themselves forward for public office. 

From Rahul Gandhi's comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the remarks about Mayawati, sexism and attacks targeting woman politicians have been featured in an Article named "Political Dhobi Ghat" by India Today which might totally change your perspective towards your Political Representatives. 

Soon after Article 370 was revoked, jokes and memes started circulating on different social media sites about Kashmiri women. The fair complexion Kashmiri girls were being portrayed as objects of desire. This is a naked exertion of masculinity. Even some politicians made some sexist jokes like they would fix sex ratio in some states by bringing women from Kashmiri. An MLA from Muzaffarnagar echoed the same thoughts. He wanted his party workers to marry ‘Gori Kashmiri’ girls. Haryana Chief Minister ‘joked’ about bringing girls from Kashmir but one has to understand the sinister meaning that the seemingly harmless statement may imply, especially when it is stated by a tall leader like him. 

They might have joked. But a responsible leader should know what he is joking about. Women’s lives are not jokes because their lives matter too.

Conclusion 

There are other various instances where women were openly subjected to harassment but the society turned a blind eye towards them just because they didn't share the same identity axis. Like during the Anti Citizenship Amendment Act Protests, women lead the protests in various places. Vulgar comments and other derogatory remarks were passed openly on social media for those women but not everyone outraged. Even some Politicians passed sexist remarks about the participation of women in those protests. But did you outraged? No, just because the politician was from a party you support. To which I would like to quote B.R.Ambedkar, who once said "Hero-worship is a path to degradation," so while you support some leader make sure you question them when they are wrong because even The Prime Minister said Democracy is Strengthened by Constructive Criticism. 

So, your outrage is appreciated but partly. Because you see this selectiveness destroys the whole meaning of criticism and eventually fails everyone in achieving the said goal, like for instance, in this case, the goal to achieve a society which promotes equality and discourages culture of sexism is destroyed. And not only this particular issue but every other disturbing issue needs your collective criticism. So question your leaders or the people in your peer groups promoting such sexist culture, raise your voice for the poor women who are harassed raped and murdered. Set aside your political and religious differences when it comes to raising voice for women rights. No ideology or belief is greater than women's dignity.

The Obscure Wing

Youth in India constitutes more than 50% of India's total population making it one of the youngest country in the world. But do each and everyone constituting to form 50% population share are getting education and employment opportunities? Do everyone is equally carrying the responsibility and future of the nation on their shoulders?

India's youth population is greater than the whole of the population of some countries. Which means that India has the largest workforce in the world, a workforce so huge which can take the nation to such heights where other countries may take a century to reach. But the problem faced by the young population is the lack of opportunities and resources or to be particular the problem of regional disparity very much prevalent in the nation since time and memorial.

The regional disparity increases the burden on some of the targeted developed areas or cities and gives rise to the problem of internal migration in the country. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan accounted for 50% of India's total interstate migration mainly in search of employment and education. Delhi and Mumbai have been considered the migrant magnets, migrants numbered 9.9 million in both the cities which is almost one-third of the combined total population of these two metropolises.

Migrant workers boarding for the train to reach their respective states.

From common citizens to politicians everyone keeps on bragging about youth and their potential to bring change, that they are going be the future of this nation. But while they speak of youth they only think of the youth who is living in the urban areas, who is able into proper school which has all the types of facilities which may cater the students in their overall development, who is easily getting higher education in his or her city and don't even think for once of the large proportion of youth who resides in the rural India where he or she is not even having proper primary schools. By ignoring the rural population of youth we are not only neglecting the talent and human resource their but also are overburdening the urban section of the youth. To explain in simplest terms, the work of development which could have been equally on the shoulders of 50% of the youth population will be now only on 20% of urban youth resulting in inefficiency, ineffectiveness, corruption, slower growth and development, cutthroat competition, etc.

"अब दिल्ली दूर नहीं" is the tagline used by politicians while they inaugurate an expressway or a new train on the Delhi route, but no one talks of developing that particular town or city in a way that it competes with Delhi or basically competes with other metropolises in the country. Numerous incidents have time and again showed how people suffer because of the lack of facilities in their respective states.

• Encephalitis outbreak Muzaffarpur, Bihar
• Gorakhpur Hospital Death 2017
• Encephalitis outbreak Jharkhand 2017 

These medical tragedies were some of the most heartbreaking incidents that the country has ever witnessed because I believe nothing can be more horrifying than seeing over 300 dead bodies of children lying all over not only showing the failure of the government but the failure of humanity. The journey of life ended before even starting for those children just because the government was busy spending crores and crores of taxpayers money in renaming cities, in their election campaigns, in building statues, in spreading propaganda through Whatsapp University precisely and other social media platform as well.

Its high time when thousands of innocents have lost their lives due to the failure of governance when lakhs and crores of people have left their home and migrated to the metropolises in search of education, employment and a better standard of living. We can't really feel the pain people undergo who have lost their beloved because of lack of medical facilities in their homeland we neither can understand the pain of those who stay away from their home their family for months because of work or education. If you are a college student look around in your college, what's the ratio of students who are a domicile of the city and the students who have come from distant places to that particular city in search of quality education. The numbers said it all didn't it?

This unsung section of the population has been unheard for a long time and as a part of the society, the least we can do for them is be their voices and make the government aware of their problems because regional disparity cant be single-handedly removed us as a part of the society have to participate and raise our voices for ourselves and for the preferably unheard because 

when the whole world becomes silent even one voice becomes powerful enough to leave significance on the masses.

Power of Youth

 "Youth and Politics are the most hardest and compulsory thing to change in India. And anyone of them changes another surely changes."

The march of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad ABVP.

Dynamic, enthusiastic, rebellious, optimistic and full of high spirit these are the traits which define the Youth of India. For a youth, nothing is actually impossible that's why their participation in nation-building through politics is the most accepted change in the socio-political sphere. 

It was the young blood who came up with high spirited ideas and played a significant role in the freedom fight when the nation was struggling hard to overcome the atrocities of the British Raj.

The youth played a tremendous role in awakening people's instinct to fight for freedom and spreading awareness among Indians about the true face of British Raj and the revolution they were about to bring to attain freedom from the atrocious British government.

Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev Thapar, Shivram Rajguru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Ashfaqullah Khan were some of the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives at a very young age for the nation.

Today's youth has the potential to change the current political scenario of India. Youth have enormous untapped strength, ideas, innovation and innocence that could totally refresh the politics and build a vibrant India with fearless actions and youthful ideas. 

But the reality is that youth is alienated and they are becoming increasingly disengaged, the youth feel disconnected from current events due to lack of assistance and guidance, lack of experience, and lack of adequate knowledge, which causes them to be less likely to get involved in politics, which creates a trend that the youth is least interested in politics, which causes politicians to ignore almost 35% share of the youth of India's total population in their political campaigns.

This untapped strength of the Youth is often exploited by the chaotic elements of society. Most of the time when the nation faces bandh's/shutdown or riots the fuel for such incidents is the exploited and ignorant youth who was ignored by the society, who's ideas and innovations were crushed down just because of the arrogance of having an experience of a lifetime in politics. The condition of Youth in Kashmir is not hidden from anyone, the separatist leaders exploited the young minds enough to carry out stone pelting on the armed forces in the valley.

Stone pelting in Kashmir

But people should not forget that it was the youth who fueled the revolutionary politics to attain freedom from the Britishers. It was the young freedom fighters who played the role being in front and not bowing down without a fight. The youth when wants something or decides to bring change it becomes an unstoppable and inevitable force. In the Jessica Lal murder case it was the youth who decided to bring justice to her, who voiced their opinions through protests and marches and boosted the judicial process.

• The Assam movement, 1979-1985
• Anti Mandal Commission protests, 1990
• Anti Reservation Protests, 2006
• Nirbhaya movement, 2012
• Pro Jallikattu movement, 2014
• FTII Agitation, 2015
• Rohit Vemula Case 2016

Apart from the Jessica Lal Murder case, these are some of the movements nation remembers which were lead by the youth successfully and displayed the strength of the youngsters.

Chhavi Rajwat India's first female sarpanch of village Soda, Rajasthan.

Chhavi Rajwat is an example of youth being part of change and politics. She despite having an MBA degree and a corporate job left the city life and went back to her village for developing rural India.

So if you have the strength to fight and courage to win with honesty in your heart you need to get rid of your reluctance of joining politics as the country needs you and as they say, 

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.