After crossing halfway mark of the prevailing 21-day lockdown, a fair amount of understanding can be derived how the Indian society as a whole is responding to the crisis. The common people, even though initially finding extremely difficult to this uncommon way of life, have, as the days progressed fell in line with the advisories of this biggest human lockdown. The inescapable hardships have touched everyone in the country, but, there should be no doubt that the most severely affected has been the population segment which is commonly categorised as the Below Poverty Line of BPL. And the nation has seen that out of this category, how the migrant labourers whose numbers are in millions are currently under an existential threat, very similar to the commonly understood concept of ‘humanitarian crisis’. In desperate efforts to flee from the locked down cities and towns which provided them employment for so long, many have perished out of sheer exhaustion and hunger.

Responses to their plights, can broadly be classified into two parts- administrative and societal. While the ‘long walks’ of the hundreds of kilometres over a nonstop stretch of 4-5 days without food and water and the resultant deaths can be attributed to the overall administrative insensitiveness and lack of desirable preparations, the response by Indian society towards this class of people, now rendered hapless due to the current circumstances has been mixed. While in many cases, the urban cream has ignored it all, there were also some humane responses. In this regard, that what is currently being witnessed in Arunachal Pradesh will stand out as an example for the rest of India. Countless NGOs, civil society organisations, community based organisations, students’ organisations and so many individuals with their respective capacities have come to the rescue to these helpless people at this grave hour. Many more of such humane responses will flow surely over the next weeks and all these will be remembered with love for long. This is the beauty of having a community-based society which, is invisible in the urban mainland. A striking feature of Arunachal’s response to the pandemic is the collective fight and this sense of togetherness will be required in the long-run, since, current developments give a clear signal that it will be a long-drawn battle. As of now it is not too sure what the post-lockdown economic scenario is going to be. But it will be better for the state to remain prepared for further challenges if they arrive.

The state administration’s efforts to defeat the pandemic and in restoring normalcy fast will take a much coherent shape, if the entire society continues playing this proactive role in the more crucial weeks lying ahead. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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