IMPRI Team
In continuation with the ongoing discussions on the Rural Realities and COVID-19 Pandemic affecting Health around the country, the Centre for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi organized a Panel Discussion on “Rural Realities | Telangana & Andhra Pradesh | Practitioners’ Experiences in Tackling the Second Wave in Indian Villages” on May 14, 2021, as the second wave of coronavirus pandemic is engulfing the length and breadth of our country, India, and hitting the heartland of our country which is the rural areas.
Need of Reviving Civil Society Organizations
Throwing light on pandemic effects on rural livelihood Dr. G V Ramanjaneyulu, Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Secunderabad, Telangana says that the situation is much worse with people facing difficulties in getting finding work. The health facilities in rural areas are poor with public health facilities collapsing significantly in both states. The pandemic brought new challenges to rural areas where people are divided by caste and parties creating serious problems.
He dwelled upon that often the suggestions coming from civil society are taken as a political statement and create a political issue rather than trying to resolve it. The collapse of civil society initiative is due to government initiatives taking over civil societies leading to the disappearance of civil society organizations working at the grass-roots level.
Talking about the impact of the pandemic on health he says that it has a lot to do with mental strength as holding on to the desire to live in such a situation is most important. The misinformation and rumors associated with the pandemic have also created panic among people and hence information filtering is important to be carried out.
Strengthening Data-Driven Transparency in Response to COVID-19
Mentioning about major conditions constituted in Telangana she states that there exist three conditions these are:
- Over centralized party system.
- Neo-Liberal Government mentality in all senses.
- Dissemination of civil society organizations.
