Tag: Covid-19 In India

India launches Mass Vaccination Programme Against Covid-19

Watch – ‘Full Faith In Vaccine; Even Paracetamol Has Side-Effects’

By LokMarg

As India launches mass vaccination programme against Covid-19, several political leaders expressed apprehension about its purpose and efficacy. However, as LokMarg spoke to a cross-section of people about the serum shot, common people deride politicization of a medical process.

Most of the people expressed undeterred faith in the “indigenous vaccine” and said they were ready to get the jab as and when it is available. About possible side-effects, they said even as common a medicine as paracetamol also has some side-effects. And this is not the only vaccine which has some side-effects, each and every serum has some temporary adverse impact on the body.

Watch the full video here

‘Proud To Be A Part Of Vaccination Programme’

By LokMarg

Savita Paliwal, 52, a senior vaccinator in Moradabad (UP), is happy to see India among the first few countries to launch vaccination programme early. She explains how the monumental process will unfold

I have been in the medical profession for nearly three decades now and have been involved with quite a few vaccination and immunisation programmes. As a government employee at the Community Health Centre at Thakurdwara, Moradabad, I have been actively involved in building a healthy society. However, this time it is quite different.

Dealing with the Covid-19 is something that we have never seen before in our entire career. Healthcare professionals have been on their toes for nearly a year now. And with new strains coming up at different parts of the world, the challenge is only getting tougher.

It was therefore both a moment of relief and pride when we were informed that India is one of the first few countries to start vaccination programme. We have compiled the beneficiary list in our zone and have had two dry runs, on January 5 and 8.

We have been divided into two teams of three members each. Both teams have one vaccinator, one helper and a data expert (someone who keeps track of the beneficiaries who get vaccination). Healthcare professionals, especially the pharmacists and paramedical staff will be given the vaccine on priority basis.

ALSO READ: A Vaccine Of Hope

The phase 1 of the programme begins on January 16. Each team is supposed to vaccinate 25 people in a day, so in our locality you can say that the Community Health Centre employees will be vaccinating around 50 people daily. The process will be spread across five rooms with standard operating procedure in place like regular sanitization, temperature screening etc.

Savita Paliwal (middle) with her colleagues at Moradabad community health centre

The DM (district magistrate) was very involved in how the dry runs were conducted and there was total cooperation from the Chief Minster’s office as well. I feel happy that we are all functioning as one smooth machinery.

Of course, many people are scared of taking vaccines but as someone with an extensive experience in this field I know how to soothe people. Asha workers are also involved in the vaccination programme, and spreading awareness about it.

Moradabad was declared a hotspot last year and I would say we expect most people to be co-operative. No query of the beneficiaries will be considered insignificant and we will take care to also inform them of the minor side-effects they might encounter after the vaccination.

ALSO READ: Nursing Our Healthcare System

I feel lucky to be a part of this monumental process. I have been keeping myself updated with all the news about vaccines developed in India as well as other countries and I would say so far we have handled the Covid-19 situation really well. But it is not over yet and the pandemic needs the cooperation of every single citizen of the country. I make it a point to carry extra masks in my bag and hand them free to anyone I see not wearing a mask.

I feel proud that India developed and mass-produce a vaccine in good time and now we aren’t dependent on any foreign country for the immunity programme. I wonder how the scientists who developed the vaccines must have raced against time to save as many lives as possible. I hope the process goes smoothly. We have managed and eradicated polio and now we are confident we shall put corona virus behind us too.

Online Classes

‘Online Classes Completely Drain The Parents’

By LokMarg

Roma Aggarwal, 37, says online schooling is tiresome for parents who have to juggle among domestic chores, office work and children’s assignments. She prays for the pandemic to end and schools to reopen

Online classes aren’t really my cup of tea. I love the idea of children being formally educated inside the school premises with real-time interactions between teachers and students as well as among themselves. Education is not only about the stuff we are taught, it is also about the social skills we learn, how we understand non-verbal cues from other people and how we learn to carve our own space in the sea of people. But it is what it is!

The pandemic hasn’t relented for so many months now and I wonder when my two daughters will be able to go back to school. My younger daughter, aged three, was supposed to start school formally this year, but then things changed drastically. My elder daughter is in Class IV and she misses her school a lot.

I have had to change and update gadgets continuously to enhance the quality of the online interaction. As an urban family, we have access to smartphones, laptop etc. which we share on priority basis, and still online classes aren’t an easy navigation. So, I wonder about those families who may have to share gadgets, like one phone between two siblings.

ALSO READ: ‘Online Classes, PUBG, Web Series… Lockdown Is Fun’

It is difficult for the young children to make such huge changes in lifestyle. My elder one generally oscillates between her iPad and her laptop for her studies, but there are days when she complains of sore eyes and mild headaches because of the intense focus she has to keep on the electronic mediums. So I have also now started connecting the laptop (net book) to the TV. And since my younger one accesses her classes on my phone, it means I neither get the TV, nor the phone to unwind after a hard day’s work.

Whatever free time I get is spent in helping my elder daughter with her assignments. I am a housewife but there is so much online involvement with my elder daughter that I feel like I have joined a fully functioning office. We as parents have to help our kids with conducting their lab experiments, then with their homework across subjects and multiple assignments. Plus there are also their various online tests.

Then there are video and photo uploads to be done. My elder daughter starts her classes around 8.20 am and one class goes on for 40 minutes. And I have to be alert along with her. My younger one’s classes start much later and she has also been complaining about her eyes watering during the classes. Since ages we have told kids to use the screen less or sit far away from the screen so that it doesn’t impact their eyes. But now the screens have become unavoidable. Continuous and long use of ear phones might also hamper the children’s sensitive ears, so I don’t allow them to use earphones for online classes.

WATCH: ‘Online Classes Are Only A Temporary Option’

My house is right now divided into water-tight zones. One room has been taken up by my husband, where he dedicatedly does his work as an IT Professional. Another room has been assigned to my daughter in which she can attend her classes undisturbed by any outside sound or noise. My younger daughter and I have taken over the living room. She gets easily restless during the classes and I have to then help her soothe.

I sincerely hope the schools open soon and we go back to the pre-pandemic world. Till now there are no updates as to when schools would open in Chennai. Since there is not much physical activity during online classes, the kids don’t expend much energy and they eat fewer times saying they don’t feel hungry and the portions have also been getting smaller. In this pandemic they can’t even go out for physical activities, which is not good for their health.

China

‘China Ban Is Short Term Hardship, Long Term Blessing’

By LokMarg

Vivek Gadodia (48), a garment manufacturer in Noida, has been importing fabrics from China. His business suffered amid Indo-China standoff and Covid-19, but he calls it a boon in disguise

My family has been into garment manufacturing business for nearly eight decades now and I have been at the helm for the past 23 years. We specialize in men’s wedding wear, especially suits, sold under the brand name Zoop. We import fabrics for our suits from China, which is why I have been keeping a keen eye on the developments in India-China relations.

The past eight months have been the most unpredictable times of my work life. The India-China standoff might have begun in May but the pandemic had started raging in Wuhan, China around January. This meant that China took extreme measures to keep its people safe. These measures caused several restrictions and we couldn’t access the fabric for our merchandise.

Then in March, India announced the lockdown and for the following three months, nothing moved. As if these hardships were not enough, the India-China military clashes happened. The standoff continues.

WATCH: ‘I’ll Not Stock Or Sell Chinese Ware Hereto’

From one perspective, this long business slump could seem like a stroke of bad luck but I see things from a different perspective. After all, businesses are built on optimism; we take daily risks and a positive outlook gives us confidence.

Vivek sells his garment collection under the brand name Zoop

Most people don’t know the scale of imports from China across categories. It is huge! India imports everything from gadgets to toys to hardware to grocery items from China. We are heavily dependent on China for raw or finished products. And the current events have caused difficulties for businessmen who trade with China. But that is a short-term setback.

In the long run, I feel the current downward spiral in India-China relations have come as a stroke of luck. Of course, the loss of lives in Galwan valley clashes is a sad episode. But hereto Indian customer will look for locally produced goods, including garments. This will fuel the idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). But for that to materialise, we as businessmen and manufacturers, have to adapt quickly to the market demand. This also means a more tightly-knit country as the demand and the supply remain in the same country.

Yes, the business has suffered tremendously. Our whole summer wedding season was a total washout as most weddings were either postponed or altogether cancelled. Plus, no one knows when things will go back to normal. But it has suffered more because of the pandemic than because of the standoff. Things aren’t as bad as shown on news channels.

WATCH: ‘Rakhi Sale Is Low, But China Maal A Big No’

The biggest problem that we are facing is: because of the tensions and uncertainty between the two countries, the Chinese sellers are not ready to give us any credit and are selling only against spot payment. This is causing serious liquidity problems for smaller business units.

We are restarting our business for the winter wedding season now and I hope the market sentiment picks up or, even better, rebound in a big manner. I hope people who have been weary of everything that 2020 brought in its wake, will celebrate weddings with a renewed vigour while maintaining social distancing and following all precautions in place. We are also taking proper measures to ensure everything is safe and hygienic in our business. The news of vaccines being in the market in a few months also gives us hope.

Online Education

Watch – ‘No Smartphone, No Classes, Kids Play All Day’

By LokMarg

LokMarg brings you a ground report from rural India, where in the absence of smartphones and computers, school children are unable to study amid Covid-19.

Our reporter Praveen Sharma visits rural households in Uttar Pradesh to find that a majority of students are unable to take advantage of online classes. Parents say they can ill-afford expensive phones or data. Result is most school children now idle away their time playing or running errands.

School teachers list out state government measures for distance learning as schools are yet to reopen. But poor households are unable to take their benefit. They are only waiting for the schools to reopen. Watch:

Work From Home

‘Work From Home Is Tougher Than Office Routine’

By LokMarg

Anamika Taneja, 31, a Public Relations professional, says work becomes strenuous when there is erratic Internet, no team-talk, and furniture not designed for long hours of sitting

The grass is always greener on the other side. When our generation was working in offices after a long commute, we craved for the comforts of home. And now when we have been working from our homes, we miss the many things in office that used to make our work easy but we took them for granted; the biggest being uninterrupted internet and power supply. The pandemic is perhaps teaching us to value what we have – water the grass and turn it green wherever we are.

Frankly, when the lockdown started most of us had thought Work From Home would be a breeze. I work with a trade industry association. We thought we would have so much time because no long commutes, and we would be all fresh before starting work because we weren’t packed like sardines in the metro or there was no frustration that comes with traffic jams.

Taneja feels her workload has increased manifold

But the time we earlier spent in commuting is now being spent in cleaning, sweeping & mopping, cooking before work. Earlier, I had a maid and a cook, but the lockdown meant no one could come in. Mercifully, my husband has been of tremendous help. He helps with household chores but because of Coronavirus the workload at home has also increased for him also a lot.

ALSO READ: ‘Some Work From Home, I Workout From Home’

In office, if we had a small query we could just walk up to other teams and get the answers, but now for everything we have to pick the phone. Sometimes there is no network, sometimes there isn’t enough charge in the phone and laptop because of long power cuts, sometimes the other person has network issues or is busy with another call. So the same work which earlier took say five minutes now takes 15. The internet connection is not as good at homes as it is in offices. That also makes work take longer to complete.

Time whizzes past so quickly that I am left wondering where my day went. On most days I have been sleeping around 3 am. Thankfully, my boss has been supportive. There is a new term for when you don’t know what day of the week it is because all days feel the same while you Work From Home: it’s called blursday or whensday.

Taneja misses friendly office banter

Another thing that I realised is that, in office all the furniture were ergonomically designed for work purpose. But working at home, at leisurely seating, the back pain has become a major issue. We had to go buy new furniture and clear out a portion of our house to be used as workspace. We also take out time for doing mild workouts during breaks.

ALSO READ: ‘Online Yoga Helped Keep Calm In Lockdown’

The times are unprecedented and uncertain and even the industry leaders are learning new things and adjusting every day. There’s a lot to learn these days. Many websites are offering free industry certification courses during the lockdown, which are otherwise super expensive and thus I finished four such courses in the past three months.

Since we all have been working alone from our homes, we miss the friendly banter and the motivation that colleagues provide to one another. We no longer take a break, which I realise is an important part of re-energizing. The only break at home from work is spent in chores like cleaning or cooking.

I hope the pandemic ends soon and we get to have a little hold over time again. In the pre-pandemic world even the stress was structured, now everything has become fluid and the industry and both national and global economy are coming to terms with it.

‘Flying As We Knew It Has Changed, Crew Wears PPE Suits’

By LokMarg

Gitanjali Dey, 28, a Qatar Airways cabin crew, says aviation industry has been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic but work ethics and hope keep them flying

I am employed as a cabin crew with Qatar Airways and currently based in Doha even though my parents live in Kolkata. I have been a part of the aviation industry for nearly six years now and I can vouch that most airlines across the world are witnessing their toughest times ever.

I am proud to say that despite the prevailing panic amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Qatar Airways never stopped its operations completely; it would be safe to say that we showed exemplary courage and confidence and kept flying the travellers, many of whom desperately needed to reach home.

I say this because it is tough to be away from your family at such an uncertain time. But my parents have taught me to respect work ethics and rules in place, so I will go home only after it is totally safe for both me and my family. Till that happens, I try to be in touch via voice or video calls for the wellbeing of my parents concerns me.

ALSO READ: ‘Reopening Our Restaurant Needed Courage’

The flying operations as we knew them have changed completely. Instead of the stylish uniform, we are now covered from head to toe in personal protective (PPE) gear, with face shields, surgical masks and sanitised gloves.

It is mandatory for us to use hand sanitizers at regular intervals, whether or not we have come in contact with someone. We also take care to serve the customers food that is prepared keeping in mind all the latest health and hygiene standards in place.

Thankfully, most airlines are flying on half-capacity so we are able to give proper attention to every individual on board. We were doing that earlier too, but in view of the pandemic the crew has to be extra attentive. The planes are thoroughly sanitized and the temperature of each passenger is checked before they board the plane.

As a cabin crew I report for duty after a gap of 2-3 weeks; so on an average every month I go on international flights twice. Initially, I was a bit worried about having to operate in a potentially contagious atmosphere, but with time those anxieties have subsided. I actually feel happy to be able to contribute in easing the lives of those who still have to travel at such times.

ALSO READ: Misery And Hope In Covid-19 Days

The pandemic has been particularly devastating for the aviation and hospitality industry the worldwide. With most international airports still not fully operational, a large number of aircraft grounded and thousands of job layoffs, we are headed for very uncertain times ahead.

But we have hope.

It will perhaps take a long time for the aviation industry to recover as more and more people are giving up on travelling unless it is an emergency. The world is re-calibrating itself to weather the pandemic and its after-effects. For now, I guess each individual will have to maintain self-discipline and practice social distancing, so we can win this war against the virus.

Chinese In India

‘Most Chinese I Know Love India & Indian People’

By LokMarg

Laila, a Chinese girl working in Bengaluru since 2018, says despite border tension and Covid-19 surge, she never felt unsafe in India. She finds Indian people warm and welcoming

As a Chinese staying in India, I get overwhelmed, even a bit annoyed, by the sudden concern I am getting every day from my family and friends, sometimes even strangers and media reporters, thanks to the military standoff and tensions at Ladakh border since May.

There were always inquiries from my family and friends in China about my wellbeing. But with the current Covid-19 surge coupled with India-China border tensions, the queries have grown manifold. Every time I post a picture of my travel in India on social media, a flurry of comments pops up: “Are you in India alone? Is it safe?”

Questions usually include Covid-19 situation, essential supplies, and anti-China sentiment in India. I was even approached by media reporters who kept asking whether I have experienced discrimination.

ALSO READ: ‘We Chinese Are Like Marwaris, We Value Business’

I came here in 2018 to work with a Chinese company based in Bangalore, and I fell in love with this country as soon as I landed: I still remember when the cab took me from the airport to my hotel, the driver didn’t take the expressway but took me through interior roads. That made me see colourful houses along the bumpy road, and my heart was singing.

Since then I have made so many good friends in India — across the country — who made my life anything but lonely here. They are funny, brilliant and much braver than I had imagined before I came here. As far as I know, most of Chinese love India and Indian people, as it has such a rich culture and beautiful landscapes.

In the last two years, Bangalore has become a home away from home. It is a beautiful, relaxing and a friendly place compared to Beijing where I used to work before 2018. Even amid this pandemic and border tension, I don’t actually feel concerned or unsafe.

I have heard once in a store that people say the word Corona while seeing me. Also, one of my friends was not allowed to check-in to a hotel while he was travelling. Besides these two isolated incidents, our experiences here are beyond wonderful. We consider these incidents were triggered by ignorance rather than with an intention to create a hostile environment for Chinese.

ALSO REED: Apps Are Only Tip Of Chinese Presence In India

That said, there are some people who might be hating Chinese in India. We were lucky to not be consumed by their hatred. I would consider most of Indian people as friendly and welcoming.

Like all my Indian friends who are in their late 20s and 30s, I am actually more troubled by Covid-19 curbs than border tension. Only because of this issue, I once thought of going back when I had a chance to board the flights back to China in June. If only I can roam around in India freely in the present scenario, then I would never think of going back.

I also know I will start to miss India as soon as I go back. All I wish is the pandemic gets over and the tension between two countries gets sorted soon. And I know there are thousands of Chinese wishing the same as me. 

Delhi Shows How NOT To Manage A Pandemic

By Amit Sengupta

Unlock 1.0 in Delhi, with the opening of borders, has led to huge mobility and activity, even while the markets have reopened and people are trying to recapture their outdoor lives after weeks of depressing quarantine in lockdown. The renewed presence of people outside on the streets and partial commercial activity have seen a simultaneous rise in Covid-19 cases across the National Capital. With 50,000 plus cases, and around 2,000 deaths, deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has given a stern warning that by June-end there might be 1,00,000 cases in Delhi alone, and by the end of July perhaps as many as 5,00,000 cases. This is a grim and dire prediction signifying that post-lockdown the virus has spread across the spectrum, and so drastically, while the official health and hospital system seem to be cracking under the burden.

The news that the Delhi health minister has been infected and is critically ill is bad news, and one wishes him a speedy recovery. Earlier several doctors and health workers in leading hospitals like AIIMS had fallen ill, even while the stark lack of PPEs and gas masks, including ventilators and oxygen, had only made the situation more tragic and tense. Nurses have been resigning en masse from both private and government hospitals and the acute lack of beds, for those patients who have tested positive, has been all apparent.

There have been reports of people running from pillar to post to get themselves tested since the doctors and the hospitals refuse to admit patients, and the usual bureaucratic structures in government hospitals have not helped. Indeed, besides education and the successful experiment of ‘mohalla clinics’, the Delhi government was much appreciated for its stellar work in the health sector, while they made all kinds of tests and treatment totally free for the citizens of Delhi.

ALSO READ: ‘Doctors Giving Their Best, Public Support Vital’

This presumably strong edifice seems to have cracked under the pressure of the pandemic, with both the state and the Centre having caught off-guard and the health structures under great stress. Indeed, the prestigious hospitals in Delhi under the central government and the Union health minister too are under severe stress, even as they handle the pressure from patients from other states with crumbling or weak health infrastructures, as in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

What has been really disturbing is the manner in which some private hospitals and health care institutions in Delhi have chosen to behave. They are reportedly charging huge sums, often in lakhs, from patients, thereby shutting the door to those patients who don’t have deep pockets, and parasiting on those who just don’t have any option in a desperate situation with government hospitals denying them admission, treatment or testing facilities. There was a case of an elderly asthmatic patient who was shunted from one hospital to another, both private and government, to the extent that the man died on the streets outside one hospital, with his family begging to the doctors who simply refused treatment.  

Besides, what about those patients who are suffering from other ailments — cancer, tuberculosis, heart diseases, etc? With OPDS practically shut, private clinics dysfunctional, and doctors refusing to come home, where do they go for treatment or a check-up?

Why can’t private hospitals in Delhi be put in line with a government order asking them to admit and treat all critical patients, come what may, and not charge a penny extra, as Mamata Banerjee has ordered in Bengal, and as was the norm in Kerala? What stops the central government to issue a directive to all private hospitals not to fleece patients and treat all them without exploitation and with dignity in a national crisis?

ALSO READ: ‘Choked Toilets, Smelly Linen, Quarantine Is Jail’

Besides, overworked doctors and nurses and health staff, have had their professional lives stretched to the ultimate limits, even while they risk their lives as frontline workers to fight the epidemic. Besides asking people to beat ‘thalis’ etc in praise, the central government does not seem have had any intention to give them benefits or incentives to boost their morale in such difficult work conditions. Most doctors and health staff thereby have been left to their own fate.

Besides, the central government seems to have turned a blind eye to the massive crisis since January this year, and this transparent indifference and insensitivity only continued with the tragic migration of lakhs of workers, their wives and children, starving, thirsty, emaciated and totally helpless. Thereby, no one really knows what the state of affairs of the tens of thousands of workers is who have reached their homes in small towns and villages. These places so brazenly lack even the most basic health structures, with even the primary health or community centres absent, and the district hospitals in dire straits. This seems to be a pattern in the Hindi heartland, especially in UP and Bihar. More so, around 25 lakh workers are reportedly now in transit or quarantine.

WATCH: ‘No Money, No Food, No Work’

The good news is that the Delhi government has promised another 15,000 beds by June 30. Recently, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the Radhasoami Satsang Beas in South Delhi’s Chhatarpur. The Delhi government is creating a makeshift Covid-19 health care facility with 10,000 beds in a vast open area, which will be centrally air-conditioned and fully equipped. Besides, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has urged the central government to provide 2,000 health care officials from the army and security services, including doctors and nurses; they should be allowed to work in this huge, temporary hospital.

“This 10,000-bed facility should be ready for admission of Covid-19 patients by the first week of July. It will primarily cater to patients with mild or no symptoms who cannot be assigned home quarantine for some reason and may need medical intervention. It will be our biggest, dedicated Covid health centre,” Kejriwal said.

This is indeed a positive move in a context that till now India has had been lucky not to face a situation as rampant in the USA, or as in Brazil. With indications and fear that the virus will peak in the days to come, and with the lockdown decisively lifted, including on train and air travel, it will be a tight-rope walk for both citizens and the governments. And Delhi being the capital will have to really pull up all its resources, talent, commitment and infrastructure, so that people do not suffer and the pandemic can be controlled.

Food

‘It Is Humiliating, But I Accept Food Donations For Kids’

By LokMarg

Sarvesh Kumar, 29, a factory guard in Greater Noida, wasn’t paid his two-month salary due to the lockdown. He finds living on charity humiliating but has accepted it to feed his family

I never thought I would see such days in my life when I would need donated food to survive. Not long ago, I had registered myself with a private security agency in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh). The agency deputed me to a private factory as a guard. My wife and two young children – one is three-year old and another one-year – also settled with me. Then this virus outbreak and the sudden lockdown turned our lives upside down.

When the factory downed shutters, and I saw migrant labourers leaving for their native places, I too planned to back to my native Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. However, I was yet to receive my salary and other dues from the contractor. Initially, my supervisor kept delaying the payments at one or the other pretext. But when I ran out of even daily ration, and asked him for my money firmly, he told me he doesn’t have the money to pay. Nor could he commute in the lockdown to provide me food items.

ALSO READ: The Invisible Indians In Pandemic

When I told him about my little children going hungry, he became abusive. I know this is a crime to default on an employee’s salary, so I went to the local police chowki to file a written complaint but all in vain. The policemen hounded me out and told me not to come out and stay put wherever I was till the lockdown ended.

It was when I was returning from the police station disheartened, some apartment dwellers spotted me walking in the sun. They asked about my situation and offered some packets of biscuits and water. As I narrated my story, they even arranged some dry ration for my family.

ALSO READ: ‘I Don’t Know How I Will Pay EMIs, Fees’

I never wanted to live on charity but this situation is critical. I don’t have land or farms back home. If I can find work, I am ready to labour for 24 hours to feed my children. It is humiliating when I see my children cry with hunger and I have little to offer.

Security guards of nearby industries often help me with food and milk. I don’t want it for free as it makes me feel like a beggar. Yet, I am accepting all such donations because of my children. I don’t know for how long I will survive like this. I want to work and earn money. 

ALSO READ: ‘Lockdown Has Made Me A Beggar’

When the lockdown was imposed, I never thought such a situation would arise. I am grateful to the people who are helping me but I want to request the government to help people like me feed their children. I want this lockdown to end soon. I am worried about my children. If this continues, people like me will be forced to go out on streets in search of food.