Coronavirus Part 36, Disruption and Living in Golden State.

 

             The covid second wave in the country has settled with a semi-triangular wave as far as the daily infections are concerned. It means the infections accelerated fast, reached the peak and then decelerated in the same pace giving the wave a triangular shape. We are saved in that it is not a square wave where the peak plateaus for longer time periods. It tells the country reacted very well and kept the damage under control since the peak lasted very briefly and the cases gradually reduced. A big pat on the back for the government at all levels, administration, warriors and every one responsible for very quick reaction and taming the virus.

              With that, let us hope we closed the second wave since the numbers are dropping, triangle is completed and no more spikes are in-store. The average of cases in the week saw further drop to around 50 thousand.  As mentioned, the wave lasted briefly in the country given the scale of initial frightening rise. But a bit of damage is done since we are less prepared and didn’t foresee it. We cured the second wave very well and let us prepare well in advance to prevent the third wave. Those concerned should think and act ahead of the mutating virus and flag alerts to prevent a third wave. That should be the lesson learnt from the terrible second wave. Everyone should be on the toes, take all possible precautions not to allow the virus into our bodies and become a spreader.  

              Looking at the vaccine numbers, a total of 31 crore doses are administered till date which are 4 crore more than the previous week. The inoculation picked the speed this week as several states clocked in good numbers. Maharastra stands first in the total number of doses provided with 3.08 crore, closely followed by Uttar Pradesh with 3.02 crore. It has to be noted that the state which has been ravaged by virus stands tall in the fight. The remaining states also has to step up to administer vaccines to all the eligible population as soon as possible. Even in Maharastra which gave highest doses-, the % of total eligible population which received atleast a single dose is a mere 25%. If both doses are considered, it drops further to 6%. It tells 94 in hundred are still prone to infection in that state. Wonder how this numbers are in other states with lower vaccine doses. This is reasonable since we are still in earlier days of vaccine explosion after ease of regulations and it will take a month or two before we see some good progress.

              Moving on, the corona virus is the greatest disruptor of our times. The virus hijacked the lives of everyone across the planet. The pandemic disrupted the functioning of governments across the world. Every world leader felt disrupted in administering his/her duties. The functioning of the governments, the performance of the countries is extremely disturbed by the virus. When do you call something as disrupted? When the normal functioning is interrupted by heavy invasion by rendering them powerless and hijacking the direction of the travelling body. The virus does every bit of this and caused heavy disruption in the normal activity of the world. Countries feel the disruption, organisations feel it which trickle down to ordinary persons. Due to this heavy intervention few countries witnessed change in fortunes.

              For instance, the government in U.S changed and the past President couldn’t get re-elected because of the disruption by pandemic. In India, the best performing government for 6 years saw its fortunes skewed because of the hijacking by the virus and subsequent lockdowns. Likewise, every country has a story to tell. During the past many decades, the world witnessed innovative disruption very often and now the world is witnessing the biggest of all disruptions in the form of this pandemic. But in fact, this disruption is good and it is the new normal of these times. The present times does not singularly deal with continuity but goes on to bear the brunt of disruption every now and then. We cannot expect continuity for long but prepare ourselves to face disruption. It is in the best of hopes that this new strong force of nature will alter the dynamics of the world for the better.

             Changing course, I need to mention about people who raised and responded positively to my aura in the last few years. I already mentioned that I alone grew in recent times leaving most others behind. But there are a set of people who grew as much and produced a lot of output. I also feel extremely comfortable living with them and in their land. It is none other than the people of Telengana. It is time for them to shine along with me for my story is not possible without the air, water and land of theirs. The support I receive day-in and day-out from the people in my close contact and vicinity is huge. The state which was carved out in 2014 from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh has grown along with me. It is the symbol of pure development achieved in front of my own eyes. How well the people of the state have responded during these 7 years is noteworthy. The city of Hyderabad has grown by leaps and bounds and the farming in the state has touched astronomical heights.

             To provide an example, the area under cultivation in Telangana was 1.41 crore in 2014 under combined state. The same has now gone up to 2.10 crore acres during the combined period of kharif and Rabi seasons. The agriculture yield has doubled from 2.05 crore tonne to 4.11 crore tonne during the same period. The procurement of paddy by the government has gone up from 24.30 lakh tonnes in 2014 to 1.11 crore tonnes last year. The government procured 3 crore tonnes of paddy this year making it the highest procurement in the country, ahead of Punjab. This increase is particularly compelling since it came in the time of pandemic.  The farmers of the state has risen to the occasion of covid-19 like me and produced more output than ever before. It is to note that the state has now become rice bowl of the country. Telangana has become Annapurna or food provider to the country.

             Last summer, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) procured 1.15 crore tonnes of paddy all over the country. Of this, 64 lakh tonnes, that is about 56 per cent was procured from Telangana alone. The region which was once a permanent address for famine and drought is now transformed and shaped as an excellent agriculture-based state.There are several other milestones in cultivation achieved by the youngest state of the country in lowest possible time. Officials say this could be possible due to completion of several irrigation projects, revival of tanks, 24X7 free power to farmers and Rs.10,000 financial assistance to farmers towards input costs per acre annually. For example, one of the major projects - Telangana's prestigious and multi staged Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) has got very great applauds from all the sections and regions.

             The CM deserves all the credit for master minding the turnaround and his promise to bring 1 crore acres under cultivation. He indeed brought close to 70 lakhs of land under cultivation by providing water through various projects. He completely and single-handedly transformed the cultivation landscape of the state. The CM is very unique in functioning and knows how to get the job done. He undertook many novel initiatives with his signature style functioning and made the state Bangaru(Golden) Telengana as promised by him. This is the turnaround experienced by the state, just in these 7 years.

             What is the path ahead for the people of the state – they need to venture into their sister state of AP and contribute to its development. There are a numerous contributions by the people of AP in the present shape of Telengana. The same should be the spirit of people of Telengana who need to contribute to its sister state. These people need to expand their presence and just not keep with themselves. A.P should welcome the people of Telengana to add to its story as well. Expansion is growth and this need to be taken up by the people. I once again congratulate all the people of Telengana for realizing the dream of separate state and achieving good overall progress. I accept my mistake as well to argue against formation of new state back in 2012 - 14.The separate state has brought so much of progress which would have been a distant dream in unified land.