India’s Unsung Segments Combatting COVID-19
The usage of the word “unprecedent” is unprecedent at the moment as per Google Trends indicated a threefold increase in usage of this word. While most of the world was celebrating New Year’s Eve 2020, a global pandemic was taking its shape which no one would have imagined would bring the whole world at a standstill. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (‘COVID-19’), as on 25 April 2020 has claimed close to 200,000 lives with over 2.5 million confirmed cases[1] and over 100 countries worldwide which had instituted either a full or partial lockdown by the end of March 2020[2]. The entire economic year of 2020-21 has been adjured due to the influence of this COVID-19. The ports, highways, air-routes, and every single catalyst of globalization have been barricaded.
For a country as India, containing the spread of COVID-19 was just the tip of the iceberg for a nation with a diverse socio-economic landscape. The country’s prudence to prioritize social distancing over any other objective has well been appreciated globally. Our medical practitioners and other health-workers are heroically are on the front-line battling the pandemic. The synchronized efforts of our society at large, whether it is Air India bringing our people back to their home to corporates stepping up in minimizing the impact on their employees and maximizing their monetary and non-monetary contributions, are examples of “One Country, One Objective”.
While its largely business not as usual but its business like never before for India. COVID-19 have presented challenges, nobody was even prepared for, but it has led to rise of solutions and initiatives which will be etched as case studies for years to come.
The Power of World’s Largest Democracy
Majority of nations followed a phased lockdown strategy. However, in India the lockdown was enforced nation-wide on one fine 24 March 2020. It was considered to be one of the most ambitious lockdowns globally. For the world’s second most populous nation with over 1.3 billion population to go under a lockdown, was simply unbelievable. Global media covered this as world’s biggest COVID-19 lockdown. Looking back, it was the need of the hour as this suppression strategy could play a pivotal role in reducing interpersonal contact rates by 75 percent given the historical evidences, which have not been very much in favor of India. In case of Spanish influenza in 1918, India accounted for 18-20 million of the estimated 50 million deaths in the world.
The effectiveness of such massive lockdown could only be successful with combined efforts central as well as state governments. India is world’s largest democracy with over 2,500 political parties[3]. As much as the intent of every state government would be same, the execution mechanism and thought process would have been varied having flavor of ruling party as well leader’s thought process.
COVID-19, without any doubt, was the biggest test of Indian democracy, results of which even global political pandits are overwhelmed to observe. As a result of collaborative efforts of central and state governments, Indian states have largely managed in flattening the curve by doing extensive testing of symptomatic cases. It seems that every single decision maker of the country is on the same page with respect to implementation of lockdown. The empathetic and robust leadership of India’s democratic leaders have not only played pivotal role in saving lives but has effectively helped in containing the infection rate South-Asian region.
The Unwavering Effort of the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry
One tweet by the President of the United States of America (‘USA’) had the world searching for what is hydroxychloroquine and what special connecting India has with it. In India, hydroxychloroquine could be bought over the counter and is inexpensive. It is similar to chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs. The importance of hydroxychloroquine arises from the fact that there are virtually no proven or approved medications or vaccines to cure COVID-19 so far. However, given its viral characteristics and availability of limited anti-viral drugs comparted to anti-bacterial infections, hospitals have been using Hydroxychloroquine (‘HCQ’) to at least mildly control the spread of COVID-19.
India’s pharmaceutical industry, the world’s largest provider of generic medicines and second largest contributor of pharmaceutical and biotech workforce, manufactures 70 percent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine[4]. Once, the competing Indian pharmaceutical giants have now become the darling of global healthcare industry. As a matter of fact, Ipca Laboratories had been under a minimum 3-year import ban by the US Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) since June 2017. However, on 20 March 2020, FDA lifted the ban on imports from Ipca Laboratories which is one of the largest producers of HCQ alongside Zydus Cadila[5].
As soon as the world requested for India to resume export of HCQ, India’s pharmaceutical giants committed to ramping up production. The industry which was traditionally producing 10 Metric Tonnes (‘MT’) of HCQ is ramping it to over 70 MT in coming months. It is expected that India will export 285 million tablets of HCQ to 40 countries on a commercial basis, while 5 million tablets are being gifted to several nations to help the world fight COVID-19[6]. The industry has received gratitude and appreciation from number of nations it is relentlessly and actively supporting.
This has also brought in some unexpected but well-deserved fortune for India’s pharmaceutical industry. In addition to surge in demand, lifting of bans, the valuation of India’s pharmaceutical companies has turned around in last few days. NIFTY Pharma Index (an index which captures performance of India’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies listed on National Stock Exchange) recorded negative returns of 13.6 percent from 01 January 2020 to 20 March 2020 (also, the date US FDA lifted ban on Ipca Laboratories). From 23 March 2020 to 24 April 2020 the same NIFTY Pharma index has recorded a return of 46 percent with Zydus Cadila recording its highest share price in a year and Ipca Laboratories’ share price touching its all-time high[7].
Rowing Against the Tide- E-Commerce Players & Traditional Retailers of India
A nation-wide lockdown meant that most of the industries would have to remain shut, logistics to be extremely limited and state borders to be sealed or under stringent surveillance. The biggest challenge for the central as well as state governments would have been to ensure that supply of essential goods and services remain uninterrupted while adhering to regulations and objectives of the lockdown. At this critical time, India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (‘MSMEs’) along with the e-commerce players have been a mature shoulder of support to the socio-economy at large ensuring that no Indian faces any difficulty in procuring mundane essential commodities. No wonder, e-tailing and hyperlocal businesses registered 45-50 percent growth in Gross Merchandise Value (‘GMV’) overall in the first two weeks of March 2020 compared to the same period in February 2020. Personal Care saw a 120-130 percent increase in GMV, largely driven by the sale of sanitizers and hygiene products followed by grocery which saw a steep increase of 110-115 per cent in GMV[8].
Similarly, country’s neighborhood stores (commonly known as “kirana stores”) also playing their heroic role despite of difficulties in ensuring that their shelves remain stocked for as long as possible. The media outlets are full of pictures showing kirana stores ensuring social distancing and safely delivering goods to the households.
With significant support from startups such as m.Paani, DealShare and many others across the country, kirana stores are utilizing technology to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities. Established e-commerce players such as Amazon India and Flipkart have also ramped up their efforts to onboard India’s close to 8 million kirana stores which account for 80 percent of the country’s retail industry.
The potential of India’s retail industry has further bolstered by the recent handshake between Reliance Jio and Facebook Inc. (Reliance-Facebook). The deal has valued Reliance Jio at staggering USD 65.95 billion[9].
With this, Reliance-Facebook Inc. are eyeing on-boarding India’s 60 million micro, small and medium businesses, 120 million farmers, 30 million small merchants and millions of small and medium enterprises in the informal sector[10].
While it may take some time for both traditional retails and e-commerce to resume operations as usual, the collaborative efforts, powered by technology, will witness emergence of India’s stronger, bolder and resilient brick and mortar stores as well as e-tailers.
The Prowess of Country’s Brightest Minds - Indian Bureaucracy
21 April is marked as National Civil Services Day in India. The day celebrates efforts and contributions of India’s civil servants and their families. 21 April 2020 has for obvious reasons have been different. Ever since India has gone on mission mode to combat COVID-19, India’s bureaucracy has challenged the traditional notions of “red-tapism”. It has depicted how India’s top administrators are compassionately and progressively working beyond the call of duties and turning tables to maximize India’s efforts for combating COVID-19 and minimum its socio-economic impact. From the central government ministries, state governments, to international diplomats, every single civil servant has risen to the occasion and have been the unsung heroes.
Irrespective of age or designation, civil servants from all fractions have been critical to execution of nation-wide strategies. From easement of procurement norms by the Cabinet Secretary to daily press-briefing by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, such faces will be remembered for generations to come. The case study of Bhilwara, Rajasthan’s ‘ruthless containment’ is talked about globally. Not just state government but the central government has attributed conceptualization and successful implementation of the containment plan to the 56-year-old district magistrate. These are just handful of thousands of other relentless efforts, Indian bureaucrats have been putting in to have solid first line of defense against this pandemic.
The Profound Role of Law and Order
As said by JRD Tata, “The effective execution of a plan is what counts and not mere planning on paper.”, without effective and efficient execution of lockdown strategy framed by the authorities, the containment of COVID-19 would have been a nightmare.
While different sectors have been contributing to ensure everyone's safety and trying to restrain the widespread of the pandemic, the judicial system in India was preparing to implement a 123-year-old law. India’s judiciary had a task in hand when Government of India guided that every state and union territory in the country should impose the stipulation of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. This act was enacted to handle the "Bubonic plague" in Mumbai. The central government also realized its outdated sections which made it to introduce epidemic ordinance to the act to make the offense of assaults on doctors and other medical staff cognizable and non-bailable, expedite investigation and imprison those convicted to up to seven years[11].
Other unsung heroes of the current times have been the central and state police forces. From the very inception of the implementation of the lockdown, the police forces nationwide are taking every measure possible to keep the citizens safe while being on the front line themselves. The forces are deployed in containment zones and hotspots, bus stops, and are taking suspected COVID-19 positive cases to the hospital for testing. From stringent measures to contain masses to their base locations, police forces have also been adopting witty tricks and new-age technologies for effective implementation of the lockdown.
They are rising beyond their call of duties by playing multi-faceted roles. They are acting as mouthpieces of the government before the masses by ensuring calmness, correct messaging, redirection to right authorities and distributing essential commodities wherever possible. The forces have been demonstrating their passion and creativity as they deal with most challenging time for maintenance of law and order in history of mankind.
We are in this TOGETHER, We will Win this TOGETHER
COVID-19 will be remembered no less than a World-War. However, in case of COVID-19, the world is at war with a common enemy. In India, we literally are living and witnessing every single word of preamble to the Constitution of India come into action- WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens. All fractions of the society are working hand in hand and the world is stunned. While, we may have been witnessing short-term severe implications much like other parts of the world, the efforts of our decision makers, executors and enablers will have unforgettable consequences with India being at the centre-stage of socio-economic-political powerhouse.
[1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-cases/
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52103747
[3] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/india-now-has-2293-political-parties-149-registered-between-february-march/articleshow/68451605.cms
[4] https://www.ibef.org/industry/indian-pharmaceuticals-industry-analysis-presentation
[5] https://theprint.in/health/how-trumps-hydroxychloroquine-demand-changed-the-game-for-indian-pharma-companies/399057/
[6] https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/india-to-export-hydroxychloroquine-paracetamol-to-over-40-countries/article31417872.ece
[7] https://www.niftyindices.com/
[8] https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/covid-19-impacts-e-commerce-businesses-differentially/article31129534.ece
[9] https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/companies-2/heres-what-jio-was-worth-before-the-facebook-deal-valued-it-at-over-65-billion-5175161.html
[10] https://www.livemint.com/industry/retail/retail-india-set-for-a-recast-as-e-tailers-woo-kiranas-11587668948307.html
[11] https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/doctors-in-india-hail-new-epidemic-disease-ordinance/1816684
Founder @ Betasaurus | Startup & Marketing Consultant
4 年Amazing ??. Completely agree with you.