On Wednesday, the annual Darbar has finally opened in Kashmir after its shifting from Jammu this year was delayed by a month due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic. It was probably for the first time in the recent past that Darbar move from Jammu to Srinagar was delayed to this extent.

Ahead of its opening, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha formally talked to the top political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir over phone and sought their cooperation in dealing with the pandemic in the Union Territory.

The official release from the Raj Bhawan reads:  “The LG observed that the representatives of public and political leaders have an important role to play in these trying times. With everyone’s support and cooperation, we can successfully break the chain of the spread of COVID pandemic. Let us all come together to protect and save precious lives by discharging our duty towards society.”

Sinha has further told the political leaders that his Administration is committed to the safety of the people. “We are working round-the-clock and doing our best to ensure the availability of all the necessary medicare facilities, besides taking comprehensive measures to strengthen the rapid response mechanism to deal with the emerging situation,” he had said over phone.

Ahead of the normal functioning of administration at Summer Capital, Srinagar from Wednesday reaching out to the political stalwarts by Sinha seems a diplomatic move. The UT along with other parts of the country is going through the toughest phases of history given an unprecedented rise in COVID19 cases. In the last one month, the lockdown in the UT has been extended a third time and the concerns are being raised by the people since the economy is hit hard.

While the ongoing lockdown is purely a bureaucratic decision to control the spread of COVID19, people are demanding immediate restoration of economic activities. In case the government seems the lockdown is the only option left to defeat the deadly virus, the worst sufferers-daily wagers demand an amount of relief since they are bereft of earning their livelihood.

It is true the UT government cannot afford to continue the lockdown and force millions of people to stay indoors. If home quarantine is the only option left to protect people from virus, hunger will be there to kill them.

As of now only the government employees seem the least bothered about the prevailing lockdown since they enjoy the financial stability. But beyond the 3.5 lakh roughly government employees, there are millions of people who survive on businesses and other daily wage jobs to feed their families.

“Those who impose & enforce lockdown are salaried people. What has the Govt thought about people who got jobless amid lockdown? Come to their rescue!,” Dr Raja Muazaffar Bhat, a social activist wrote on his facebook wall.

Like Muzaffar, lots of people have the same opinion and insist that the Sinha led administration must do away with it and frame a people friendly strategy where the virus is beaten but the economy sustains.

Sinha, who is believed to be a seasoned politician apparently, took the right decision to reach out to the political leaders of the erstwhile state. He spoke to NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, former PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig, BJP leader Nirmal Singh, Peoples Conference leader Sajjad Gani Lone and many others. If LG Sinha wants to tackle the prevailing situation, he must believe in the collective efforts and restrict the power of administrative officials. The decisions coming from the babus end lands in controversies and sans the public acceptance.

Taking these political leaders on board may help Sinha to overcome the crisis substantially. They have run the state in the toughest times and know behaviors of people and subsequent solutions.

Meanwhile, the coming days might prove tough for the Sinha led administration. It has to come up with a proper future course of action. The continuous lockdown might trigger the socioeconomic crisis. Since the UT is under lockdown, it shall cease this as an opportunity to reboot the health infrastructure at all levels.

Ironically, our officials only prefer to improve and expand the facilities at tertiary and district hospitals which later crumble to public rush. Even at dispensary level, the medical and paramedical staff must be trained to handle the COVID19 patients. Since the majority of the infected patients are directed to home quarantine, the ground staff at community level and primary level must be directed to take care of their respective areas.

Besides, the primary, district and tertiary level hospitals shall be laden with adequate supplies of oxygen beds and ventilators. In this case, the LG office shall pass on the strict direction to the health authorities. This moment must be seized.

The second thing that the government shall be doing is to draw a strategy on how the economic activities can be restored without letting infections to spike. A smart strategy is the need of an hour and LG must task his policy makers who draw the fat salaries for the purpose. Common thinking (Lockdown) cannot be any more thrust on the general public or at least followed. Let the people appointed for job do the business and save the people from the ongoing socioeconomic catastrophe.