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As govt seeks feedback to tackle Covid-19, suggestions pour in
As India scrambles to stop the spread of Covid-19, the government opened a platform for public suggestions, seeking to involve more people in the battle against the disease, on mygov.in.
Cab driver Deepak Gupta wanted to know if the government has any welfare scheme to offer his fraternity; he has earned little money in recent days.
Raman Bhatia, the owner of a small business, sought the prime minister’s intervention for the release of payments owed by state-owned companies to his firm. Anand N suggested that volunteers be enlisted to deliver groceries at the doorstep of residents so that people don’t have to go out to shop.
These are just three among the more than 52,000 comments that have poured in after the Narendra Modi government sought feedback from people on ways to tackle the coronavirus disease, widening the scope of public consultations.
As India scrambles to stop the spread of Covid-19, the government opened a platform for public suggestions, seeking to involve more people in the battle against the disease, on mygov.in, the popular platform for government and public interface.
An official note says the ideas people suggest can include “innovative and best practices regarding hygiene, hand washing, social distancing and preventing spread of rumours and being prepared rather than panicking.”
The government has a record of taking suggestions seriously. For instance, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to launch his Namo app, he sought competitive suggestions on this platform; the final design for the app was suggested by a participant .
The effort to tap public opinion on ways to tackle the coronavirus and its fallout is an indication of the government’s desire to engage with the people, a government official said, requesting anonymity.The success of the government’s battle against Covid-19 ultimately depends on the people’s participation. An internal evaluation of the suggestions is on and some of them may be implemented, he added.
A participant, Tushar, used the opportunity to alert the government to the fact that many residents of east Delhi were not taking the lockdown seriously and were coming out onto the streets. He advocated the use of force to confine people to their homes. Hemendra Kumar suggested the use of school and college buildings and train coaches to shelter migrant workers.
Inderdeep Singh proposed that airline caterers be used to provide food in shelters and camps for migrant workers. “There is a huge kitchen and delivery infrastructure available with organisations like Taj Sats that provide food to Air India and other airlines. Currently none of them is operating and therefore government can use that infra to provide food in Delhi and Mumbai,” he said.
Varun Malviya wanted the lockdown, which ends on April 14, to continue for another week at least,.
