Daily Mains question – June 3/2020

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GS – 2

Health and welfare

1. The Indian Healthcare system needs a revival plan to come into terms of pandemic situation. Explain.

In News

• Recent Covid-19 crisis has put the world upside down due to its impact and our approach in tackling the same.
• The coronavirus cases has blatantly made transparent as of how even giant economies could succumb in no time.
•  India has not been spared from the same.

Healthcare System

• With lot of working brains, we are trying to find a solution to address the crisis. With peaking cases in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and other areas we are finding it difficult to accommodate more number of affected populations day by day.
• Private healthcare centres’ are trying to use this as an opportunity to take advantage of desperate people.
• Indian healthcare being one of the finest around the world has not come into terms with the pandemic crisis yet. With increases active cases and deaths we could find it difficult to provide treatment to every individual.
• Indian Constitution tasks each state to provide health care for its people. Although it should have been universally made available by the government, we have a lot of private institutions taking over the medical field.

Is healthcare a low Priority in India?

• Public healthcare in the last decade has been a low priority in India with just 1.29% of GDP spent on it which is far lower than countries classified as “poorest” around the world.
•  Ironically we are the same country known for successful eradication of small-pox and polio through targeted intervention.
•  The growing number of people requiring medical intervention has stressed out the healthcare system and has shown the loopholes of absence of a foolproof plan during such crisis.

Way forward

• Now understanding the immediate requirement, our way forward should be to increase the number of tests done on a daily basis, make alternate arrangements to accommodate more people who are in need of medical assistance, prioritize patients with high risk to be treated immediately and to provide proper assistance to the doctors and others involved in treating the people.
• With this as an example, we should invest in research and training, enable foreign investment in medical education, earmark a disaster management budget and collaborate medical advancement techniques with other countries.

GS – 4

Ethics

2. Do you think universal basic programme is the need of the hour in India to eradicate poverty? Analyze.

In News:

• The ongoing pandemic crisis is creating changes that could end up dividing society into pre and post covid-19 era. These changes are also likely to exacerbate the novel challenges accompanying the fourth industrial revolution.

Technology Advancement:

• Today disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, robotic replacement are ushering in, which is steadily decreasing the human capital requirement making jobs a premium.
• Many consider a Universal Basic Income to be a solution for this dwindling job opportunity.
•  It is also deliberated as an effective poverty reduction tool.

UBI:

• Universal Basic Income is a government guarantee that each citizen receives a minimum income.
•  It is also called as citizen income or basic minimum income. In its true sense it would entail the provision of an unconditional fixed amount to every citizen in the country. Countries like Kenya, Brazil, Switzerland, and Finland have implemented this concept to supplement their population.
•  IMF has projected global growth in 2020 to be -3.0% , the worst since the great depression.
• India is projected to grow at 1.9%. With almost 90% of India’s workforce in the informal sector without minimum wages or social security, micro level circumstances will be worse here than anywhere else.
• The frequent sight of several migrant deaths and barefoot travel in inhumane conditions is a disgraceful blight on India.
• One way to ensure their sustenance throughout these testing times is the introduction of unconditional regular pay checks at maximum universality at least till the economy normalizes.
• If universal basic income ever had a time, it is now.