Narendra Modi Turned COVID-19 Into a Catastrophe for India
India’s experience of COVID-19 has gone from crisis to catastrophe in recent months. Responsibility for the disaster lies squarely with Narendra Modi’s right-wing government, which has consistently prioritized its own political interests over public health.
A rite is held for a person who died from COVID-19 at a crematorium in Guwahati, Assam, on June 5, 2021. (Str/Xinhua via Getty Images)
On May 19, India set an unenviable world record, having reported 4,500 COVID-19 deaths in the previous twenty-four hours. The country’s death toll is now inching toward 350,000. The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that this figure will reach one million by August.
An impending public-health crisis already seemed likely in the early months of 2020, when experts listed India as a high-risk country for the spread of COVID-19 beyond China. Many people expected that its crumbling public health care system would not be able to cope with a serious outbreak of the virus.
It appeared that India had avoided the worst-case scenario. In March this year, the Union Health Minister declared that the country was in the endgame of the epidemic. He boasted that India was well prepared for a nationwide vaccination drive and had also supplied vaccines to seventeen low- and middle-income countries.
Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.