ZEF Public Lecture on Covid 19 in India: Recognizing the crisis beyond the pandemic, and building alternatives

February 10, 2022 | 13:30 h - 14:30 h

ZEF Public Lecture

Topic: Covid 19 in India: Recognizing the crisis beyond the pandemic, and building alternatives

Speaker: Pallav Das,  a founder member of Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group, and a development analyst.

Abstract:  The Indian experience of Covid 19 has been marked by enormous failures on part of the central government. In the spring of last year, a particularly large and fierce tide of the virus entered the country causing misery and panic not seen in the country’s history for a long time. A frightfully vicious variant of the virus spread like wild fire in the months of April and May of 2021, killing hundreds of thousands of people and upending socio-economic structures in its wake. While the Corona virus has been a sinister force of destruction all over the world, in India the collapse of the public health system led to the people dying of an acute shortage of oxygen, medicines, hospital beds and ambulances. The government failed miserably to ensure its citizens’ most fundamental right – the right to life. The year before, the government mismanagement of the virus response led to frightful loss of employment, destruction of small businesses and mass dislocation. Even after two years, the government seems to be more focused on managing the narrative on Covd 19 rather than the virus itself. This colloquium will explore the recent Indian development trajectory to understand where the socio-political and economic roots of the ongoing public health debacle lie, and what are the possible alternative paths for the country to create a more wholesome future.

Pallav Das is a founder member of Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group, and a development analyst. He also edits the “Radical Ecological Democracy” website (www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org).

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://uni-bonn.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEtf-GrqjwvHdA7Q3S3f5oMlMw3UCoJIQAd

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