India's COVID-19 management examined by Parliamentary panel; Here are key recommendations

On Monday,  Anand Sharma-led Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs presented a report on 'Manment of COVID-19 pandemic and related issues'. 31-member committee h 10 members from Rajya Sabha and 21 from Lok Sabha. While appreciating efforts of Centre for controlling spre of vel coronavirus, it pointed out that re was testing facility at airports throughout March 2020 when international passengers were only source of vel coronavirus infections in India. Moreover, panel highlighted that sudden imposition of lockdown led to unprecedented disruption leing to severe ecomic and social fallouts. 

Contending that migrant workers, factory workers and daily w earners were worst affected, it held lack of timely dissemination of information responsible for movement of migrant workers to ir home states. committee also weighed in on or aspects such as health infrastructure, social and ecomic impact of pandemic and lessons for future. Currently, re are 1,00,55,560 vel coronavirus cases in India out of which 96,06,111 patients have recovered and 1,45,810 fatalities have been reported. 

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committee's report can be accessed here. 

Here are key recommendations of committee:

• government should draw up a national plan and guidelines under NDMA, 2005 and Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. An effective functional institutional mechanism is needed for co-ordination between Centre, states and Union Territories for quick response to such a crisis in future. This would ensure efficacious implementation of all decisions to contain pandemics and equitable/timely distribution of relief at district and subdivisional levels to intended beneficiaries in urban and rural areas.
•  public sector healthcare delivery system needs to be furr strengned in all states/ UTs and a uniform healthcare system should be established across country to deal with pandemic on a sustained basis in future. committee recommended that in long term, re should be more investments in health infrastructure for rapid scaling up of public health services. 
• re is a need to identify states where testing facilities need to be expanded as testing facility is t same across states and Union Territories. Even within states also, districts should be identified and equate health infrastructure should be me available re.
• Relevant data should be me available for research community duly following data anymization, security and privacy laws which can provide required input for COVID-19 manment and access, analyze and provide realtime context-specific solutions to control COVID-19 pandemic.
• re is a need for a comprehensive public health Act, preferably at national level with suitable legal provisions to support government in keeping checks and controls over private hospitals as re have been reports about selling of hospital beds by m.  Act should also keep a check on black marketing of medicines and product standardization. 
• While undertaking vaccine trials, all necessary and mandatory requirements must be duly fulfilled and all phases must be completed. Trials on small animals, human trials should be mandatorily undertaken on a sufficient sample size population. If at all emergency authorization would be given, it should be given by government with proper consideration and caution and this provision should be used in rarest of rare cases.
• A separate wing may be formed in National Disaster Manment Authority that will specialize in handling /managing Pandemics like COVID-19 in future. This wing may take a leing role in building a partnership of Government with public sector, corporates, NGOs and or stakeholders.
• government should ensure a decent minimum w, food security and safe living conditions to all workers employed in both formal and informal sector by including m in health services, cash transfer and or social programmes. National Database on migrant workers should be launched at earliest as it will help in identification of migrant workers and also in delivering ration and or benefits to m.
• A scheme may be worked out to provide financial assistance as well as low-cost subsidized devices like tablets, smartphones and computers to students with sufficient data to access se facilities, especially for students belonging to weaker sections of society.
• More interventions and schemes are required by government to support recovery and to sustain this ecomic revival in following quarters.
•  Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 should be revisited, updated and amended so that it is fully equipped to respond to challenges posed by unanticipated onset of Pandemic/ epidemic in future.

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