A Decentralized Approach Could Help Turn The Tide Against Covid

Context: Giving local governance structures the freedom to craft their own strategies could lend decision-making speed and agility.

Significance of decentralised governance structures

• Have Advantages of ‘on ground’ information, monitoring and immediate action when it comes to tackling a public health emergency like the covid outbreak.
• Encourages ownership and sharing of responsibility: While the centralised command-and-control approach leads to passing the buck for crisis decisions to alternative sources of authority.
• Ensures community participation: Community participation has a significant role to play -
  • In containing the pandemic: The 17th-century English village, Eyam, which contained bubonic plague of 1665-66, became one of the most remarkable cases of self-quarantine in history.
    • Several resident welfare associations (RWAs) have been doing in Bengaluru, with the help of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)
  • In identifying vulnerable households: Supporting elderly and those in quarantine, and also in contact tracing.
  • In the provision of the essentials: They can also come together to order medical supplies such as oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and medicines in bulk for community use.
• Lesson from success stories: Success of district-level covid management like seen in ‘Kerala model’, ‘Bhilwara model’, ‘Dharavi model’ or ‘Karnataka model.’

Way forward

• Emulate success models: ‘Kerala model’ of oxygen self-sufficiency through enhancing oxygen production capacity over the past one year by concerted efforts could be replicated in other states and sectors.
• Avoid tiered vaccine pricing: Union government’s attempt to create multiple price points for three different categories of vaccine buyers (Central government, State government and private parties) has led to confusion.
  • Need for rationalisation: Vaccines to be offered to Central and state governments at a uniform price, whereas private sector may be provided price flexibility based on volumes procured.
• Encourage cooperation: Industry associations, corporate entities, self-help groups, RWAs, traders’ associations, and political parties have to join forces and act locally down toward district and panchayat levels to win battle against the virus at national level.