179 - Leading India Through The COVID-19 Crisis | Priyam Gandhi-Mody | Policy | Bharatvaarta

The pandemic has altered the destinies of not just people worldwide but  of entire nations. Many developed countries despite having superior  infrastructure and significant investments in public health haven’t been  able to tackle the onslaught of the pandemic. It was in this backdrop  that India’s ability to rise to the challenge had been written off  entirely by many leading ‘experts’. Doomsday predictions were made which  included mass deaths and anarchy.  However, Prime Minister Modi’s robust grip on the administration changed  India’s fortunes in the fight against the virus. He took absolute  control of the country’s response mechanisms and streamlined systems to  cut red-tape. Led by fact-based scientific advice, the Indian government  galvanized their inheritance of less-than-adequate resources, augmented  capacities rapidly and prudently spent its reserves on the most  effective solutions.  Hence, even after three waves of the pandemic, India has managed to save  more lives than most countries in the world. The country has proved the  cynics wrong with one of the lowest fatality rates. As a testament to  its scientific and technological prowess, the nation has not only  developed multiple indigenous vaccines but is running the world’s  largest vaccination drive supported by superb infrastructure. True to  our nature as a nurturer, our country has been acting as the ‘pharmacy  of the world’ by providing life-saving drugs and medical equipment to  other nations. With a staunch resolve to help all of humanity emerge out  of the pandemic, India has committed over five billion vaccine doses in  2022 for countries in need and intends to provide more until every  human being is secure. A Nation to Protect is a definitive account of India’s pandemic response  from the top echelons of leadership and government.