New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal gave his views today, regarding the coronavirus pandemic and India’s preparation at the ‘e- Shikhar Sammelan’ a conclave organised by ABP News. He said that while this is not the time to criticize the government on the steps taken to combat the pandemic, it is necessary to introspect on why the government lacks a national plan to mitigate the situation. Sibal, however, said testing rates in India continue to be amongst the lowest in the world and need to scale it up immediately.

He said, "A national plan based on the Disaster Management Act, 2005 would have helped to access the situation better especially in understanding the adequate amount of healthcare facilities that will be required for example number of beds needed in hospitals to treat patients or the number of quarantine facilities needed, etc. The Act specifies many measures that can be utilized in times of crisis such as these. Unfortunately, the government is still using a top-down approach.”

He also feels that India should increase its testing capacity to get a better estimate of how much the virus has spread.

“We are still testing only those who develop symptoms but as we know most cases in the country are asymptomatic. Also, we do not know much about testing in rural areas. This is also a hindrance to understanding the healthcare needs of the country. We have an Act and the government should utilize it to move forward. The opposition will support the government in that endeavor.”

Sibal also stressed on the need for better transparency from the centre on the plans that will be used to control the infection in different areas of the country.

“Our Prime Minister and Home Minister should apprise us of everyday measures. We should know what all is being done. A press conference with the Joint Secretary is not enough”

Regarding the need for economic revival which has been talked about by the likes of Narayan Murthy and how India can turn into a manufacturing hub, he feels that it is not enough to just talk about using the pandemic as an opportunity,  but it needs to be supported by careful examination of our laws and bureaucratic procedures that may create bottlenecks for the industries.

“But right now, our focus should be the pandemic and how we can help those in need especially migrant workers,” he added.

He also agreed that the pandemic will cause a lot of changes to lifestyle and even the political structure.

“The entire infrastructure of Indian politics will change and should change. When we make plans such as social distancing, we are not taking into consideration those who cannot adhere to it. When 50 percent of the population is still living in slums how will they follow distancing? These are the things that will cause changes to the political structure of the country.”