India’s Covid future ultimately depends on the people, state response

Six months ago, Preeti Sudan became the most important bureaucrat in India. As the health secretary, she would undertake the mammoth task of helping prepare India for the pandemic. Though due to retire in April, she was given a three-month extension to ensure the system that was put in place ran smoothly and India’s Covid-19 crisis could be managed. Now, in four days, Sudan will hang up her boots, kick up her feet and take a much needed break.

“We have come a long way, the world and India. In March, I had no clue (where we would be in a few months), we were only responding to the situation and we knew a lot would depend on how the Centre, the states and the people responded. But I would say we have done better than expected,” said 60-year-old Sudan in her first interview since the pandemic struck. She was speaking to ThePrint in her office in Nirman Bhavan where the health ministry offices are located.

An IAS officer of the 1983 batch, belonging to the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Sudan is a career bureaucrat. Before she became health secretary in 2017, she worked with the ministries of women and child development and defence. When she retires on 31 July, it will be after 37 years of service.

When the Covid-19 crisis began, Sudan was given powers under the National Executive Committee of the National Disaster Management Act 2005, through a 11 March order that came into effect retrospectively from 17 January. This meant Sudan could issue advisories to state governments.

Talking about India’s progress in these six months, she says things have changed from when the first coronavirus case was registered in the country in January. At the time, samples were being sent abroad to be tested for the novel coronavirus. Now, 1,310 labs are screening for the infection; in the past 24 hours, they conducted 5.15 lakh tests. Talks are also on with GAVI for the country to get 20 per cent of the Covid vaccines available to the global alliance. But, as the numbers rise, it will be people’s compliance and resilience of states that decide the country’s future Covid trajectory, Sudan said. – The Print