NITI Blogs

As a by-product of the Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic, we are confronted with a battle against untamed emotions.

Around the world, countries are struggling to rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak. In India, nearly 1.3 billion people are currently under a nationwide lockdown, which has been extended till 17 May.

Governments across the world are struggling to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, with nearly 170000 deaths reported globally and over 200 countries affected. In India, the Central and state governments have employed a multi-pronged approach to deal with the situation. It is in such times that one is reminded of Norman Schwarzkopf who once said “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war”. True to this spirit, interestingly, many reforms undertaken by the government before the pandemic are now playing a big role in our fight against the novel coronavirus.

The impact of corona virus has been uneven across several countries. Contrary to the common notion that developing and less developed countries that are geographically closer to china will see more rise in cases, the emerging evidence indicates a high rise in cases particularly from the developed world which are geographically far off from China. As on 22nd April 2020, overall 0.8 million cases reported from the USA and over 140, 000 case each reported from Spain, Italy, France & Germany.

We need to work on the implementation of a robust monitoring & evaluation (M&E) framework. Developing a robust M&E system entails strong backing by an agency which can affect the budget allocation of various schemes and ministries. The ministries should not only be responsible for spending the money but also be held responsible for achieving outputs and outcomes, decided through developing a logical framework for different schemes in advance.