Opinion | The need for better coordination between Centre and States amid crisis
4 min read . Updated: 24 Apr 2020, 09:38 AM IST
Premium- A well coordinated system will ultimately benefit the citizens of this country for whom the governments are working for
- The time necessitates all the executive machinery irrespective of central or state to come forward and drive this nation to move forward
India is in the middle of a social and economic crisis due to covid-19 and the only way to come victorious requires an effort from every citizen of this country as well as the central and state governments. The current lack of coordination between central and state government and subsequently with the local authorities is making it difficult for the last mile connectors to deliver essential supplies. Improper implementation of the current directives of the central government is leading to formation of gaps between the supply chain which is ultimately affecting the consumers for the benefit of whom these directives have been issued. In this time of need, central government and state governments have to act responsibly and work with the local authorities to ensure that the essential supplies reach their end customer.
The Hon'ble Prime Minister in his speech on 24th March, 2020 ordered a 21 days nationwide lockdown in order to prevent the transmission of the disease. Meanwhile, he ensured that the delivery and manufacturing of essential goods and services will not be stopped. The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs exempted certain kinds of establishments such as hospitals, banks, media, telecommunications, E-commerce activities etc from the lock down so that the citizens of this country do not face many problems. In order to have a smooth flow of supplies and to deliver better healthcare, it is important that the coordination between the state and central administration runs on an optimum level. But on the contrary, states have started to stop the inter-city or inter-state movements thereby affecting the flow of transportation activities along with other essential supplies.
The guidelines issued by MHA specifically mentioned that shops which are dealing with the food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy, etc are exempted from the lockdown. Further, It has been explicitly mentioned that the delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment through e-commerce is also exempted. But even though these guidelines have been issued, there still exists friction between the authorities and implementation of these policies. The one who are opening their shops are forced to shut even though they are involved in the selling of essential supplies. The movement of the people are being heavily curtailed because of which even those who are exempted from the lockdowns are facing problems.
Additionally, the strict restrictions on the movement of the people has made it difficult for the MSME operators to run their factories and deliver the essential supplies to the people in need. It has been observed that police officers in some of the areas are not aware of these exemptions or have been poorly briefed. Due to the lack of information on the part of the police, the workers are not able to reach their workplaces to support the manufacturing process. Even though the guidelines have been issued by the central government and respective state governments to ensure a smooth process, last mile connectivity is still a major concern in the major parts of the country.
Law and order, public health, sanitation and police come under the state list of the constitution of India making it a prerogative of individual state governments to regulate them as they deem fit. But at this time of crisis, the central government has to ensure that their directives are followed by its letter by the state governments and local administration. Currently, the lack of coordination and improper implementation of the directives is causing hindrance in the delivery of the essential supplies. It is important that there exists a proper coordination channel between the governments to ensure that the local authorities are not devoid of any information.
A better coordination between centre and state governments and the local authorities will help the current situation in order to make sure that transportation of essential supplies are not being stopped at the borders of the state. District level executive machinery has to ensure that the law enforcement agencies are properly briefed about the directives and it is the responsibility of the state government to keep an eye over it. Further, in order to smoothen the process, there is a need to allow MSME units, storage warehouses and delivery stations which are focused on enabling movement or delivery of essential goods to be able to operate without intervention from police and local authorities. Workers engaged in the manufacturing of essential goods in the MSMEs should be given passage by the police to reach their workplaces in order to resume their operation in the manufacturing factories.
Therefore, in the time of this ongoing crisis, the need of the hour calls for the central government to coordinate with the state governments and law enforcement agencies to ensure hassle free passage to the transportation and delivery associates for delivering the essential goods to consumers and smooth running of MSMEs engaged in the manufacturing of essential supplies. A well coordinated system will ultimately benefit the citizens of this country for whom the governments are working for. The time necessitates all the executive machinery irrespective of central or state to come forward and drive this nation to move forward.
Kazim Rizvi is founding director at The Dialogue.
Ayush Tripathi is policy research associate, The Dialogue.
Views expressed in this column are personal.
