GENRE: In Focus

Equipped with a non-contact thermometer and oxymeter, A Sumathi, a fever surveillance worker employed by the Greater Chennai Corporation, knocks at the door of S Raja in Anna Nagar every morning. Her job: to enquire about the latter's well-being and his family, and provide any assistance they may need. This is a source of assurance for Raja, who feels safe that his family is being tracked on a day-to-day basis for over a year now. A few days ago, when his wife, R Rani, developed symptoms of COVID, he immediately sought Sumathi's help for testing and triaging. “The fever survey worker…

Geared fully in a PPE suit in the harsh Chennai summer, Dr M Keerthi Varman attends to COVID patients at the Stanley Medical College Hospital. Throughout six continuous hours of his duty, he shuttles between the outpatient ward, where he assesses the condition of COVID patients and the 'zero delay' ward, where immediate care and oxygen support have to be provided to patients with no time lost in the admission process. Work in a COVID ward demands more than the usual share of care and alertness. "A patient once removed his oxygen mask to use the restroom. It could have…

In the first part of our conversation with Dr Anant Bhan, Bhopal-based researcher in Global Health, Bioethics, and Health Policy, we asked him some of the common questions that citizens are grappling with today in the face of a stark vaccine shortage, coupled with frequent changes in policy. Continuing the conversation, we look at the overall data sufficiency on vaccines, the disease itself and its overall implication for the management of the pandemic. Edited excerpts below; for the entire unabridged conversation, scroll down to find the video link: Veering to the big picture, just weeks back, we had hundreds of…

Translated by Sandhya Raju தன் தந்தையின் ஆக்சிஜன் செறிவு அளவு 78 ஆக குறைந்தபோது, ஈசிஆர்-ல் வசிக்கும் இந்துலேகாவிற்கு (பெயர் மாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது) பதட்டம் தொற்றிக்கொண்டது. தன் 72 வயது தந்தைக்கு தனியார் மருத்துவமனையில் சிகிச்சை அளிக்கும் நிலை அவருக்கு இல்லை. "வென்டிலேடர் சிகிச்சைக்கு நாள் ஒன்றுக்கு இரண்டு லட்சம் செலவாகும் என்றார்கள். எங்களை போன்ற நடுத்தர வர்க்கத்தினர் இதை எப்படி சமாளிக்க முடியும்" என வினவும் இந்துலேகாவிற்கு அரசு மருத்துவமனை தான் ஒரே தீர்வு. மே மாதம் 4-ஆம் தேதி ராஜீவ் காந்தி அரசு மருத்துவமனை மற்றும் ஸ்டான்லி மருத்துவமனை வாசலில் மணிக்கணக்காக காத்துக் கிடந்தனர். "104 உதவி மையத்திற்கு தொடர் அழைப்பு பலன் அளிக்கவில்லை. உதவி மைய ஊழியர்கள் பதில் அளித்தாலும், அவர்களால் இந்துலேகாவின் தந்தைக்கு ஆக்சிஜன் படுக்கையை வழங்க முடியவில்லை." என்கிறார் இந்துலேகாவிற்கு உதவி செய்த கோவிட் தன்னார்வ படையை சேர்ந்த தன்னார்வலர் பாரதி ரமணன். ஒரு…

While it is now widely acknowledged that vaccines hold the key to our fight against COVID-19, the vaccination drive in India's cities appear to have hit a major roadblock and the daily coverage is far below what would have been a desirable target. The vaccination drive in Chennai began along with the rest of the country on January 16th. First in line were the healthcare and frontline workers, the drive then gradually expanded to cover those over 60 years of age and then those above the age of 45. Finally, from May 1st, it was declared that all those above…

Indulekha (name changed) from ECR nearly had a nervous breakdown when her father’s oxygen saturation levels dipped to 78. COVID treatment for her 72-year-old father at a private hospital was something she could not consider. “They quoted a sum of Rs 2 lakh a day for ventilator support. How can a lower middle class family like ours ever afford it?” Indulekha questioned. Her only choice was to go for the government hospitals.  On May 4th, the family waited outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Stanley Medical College hospital for hours, in vain. “Multiple calls to the 104 helpline…

Describing her lockdown experience in a basti (settlement) in Mumbai, 15-year-old Saniya’s rap song captures the isolation that has given the year 2020 the epithet of ‘The Year We Lost’. The suspension of daily rhythms, coupled with a warped sense of time and subsequent loneliness—despite being surrounded by millions of other people—is a feeling many resonate with, as cities around the world fell into a disquieting silence. Yet, even as India went into one of the strictest lockdowns in the world with barely four hours notice, this sensation was amplified for already vulnerable groups such as adolescent girls. As school gates were locked and public…

The Maharashtra government’s handling of the 2021 lockdown holds lessons for students of public policy about how a simple tweak in government attitude and policy could prevent so many tragedies and prove beneficial for so many. In April 2020, the sudden closure of rail services and public transport forced migrant workers in many states to flee on trucks, cycles, cement mixers and on foot for hundreds of kilometers back to their villages facing death, starvation and suffering.  Forced by the public outcry, the railways did start Shramik trains. But the 4621 Shramik trains that ferried 63 lakh passengers in 2020-21…

Well, that almost sounds like a page out of a fantasy novel, given the water scenario many of its localities have been facing in recent years. It's been barely two years that the city was making global headlines for having dried up completely in the wake of a monsoon failure and depleting groundwater reserves.  Was it this crisis that served as a wake up call for the Tamil Nadu government, pushing it to take steps to augment the city’s water supply and conserve water resources? How is summer 2021 going to be on the water front? What has changed in…

“Urban administration and urban planning in India is undergoing a major change,” says Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban development. “Himachal Pradesh, a predominantly rural state, has to make this transition given that urbanisation is a fact of life and new ULBs (Urban Local bodies) must be strengthened”. This was the rationale given by the Himachal Pradesh government to form three new municipal corporations to administer Solan, Palampur and Mandi . While Solan is a fast growing town with several educational institutions of higher studies and a bustling business community, Palampur in Kangra district is a popular tea town and home to…