THE PARADOX OF POVERTY- BANE OR BOON

The title of this blog might make you think if I’ve lost my mind or something. I don’t blame anyone as I’d have thought similarly If I’d come across a title like this. After all, anything that deprives a human being of a dignified life can be a bane only but if we look at figures related to the spread of COVID-19 in India, we might have to think about this notion once again. No doubts, people living at the bottom of the pyramid have always been more prone to diseases like Covid-19. They are the ones who are supposed to be the worst hit and due to the poor healthcare system in our country fatalities amongst the poor are always expected to be high.

As per the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family welfare, the current count of active COVID-19 patients in India stands at 49219, Around 26234 recovered in the due course and 2549 deaths have been recorded. If we look at the state-wise figures, as on the 14th.May, Maharashtra has the highest no. of cases (25922 cases) followed by Gujarat (9267) Delhi (7998) and Tamil Nadu (9227). Around 2549 people lost their life. If we analyze the state-wise data (of deaths) Maharashtra has reported the highest no. of casualties (975 deaths) followed by Gujarat, West Bengal (only if the state revealed actual figures), Madhya Pradesh respectively.

Now let’s look up at the poorer states (Calling them poor on the basis of per capita income and their contribution to the country GDP). Bihar, with 947 Covid-19 cases (Out of which 388 recovered) and 7 deaths seems to be in a fairly good condition. Another usual trouble maker Uttar Pradesh seems to be doing reasonably good with 3729 and 83 deaths. I’m not saying figures aren’t bad; they are, as loss of even a single human soul is heartbreaking but if we look at factors like population size, density, illiteracy and rate of poverty, etc. these figures are actually good. If we look at other Problem children like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha, they are doing well in containing Covid-19 and are in a fairly good condition with 59, 173, and 538 cases respectively. With these figures, we can easily interpret that somehow states with poor economic performance are doing better than many other states as far as Covid-19 is concerned. Another small and relatively poor economic performing northeastern state are touching another high in containing the spread of this deadly virus (5 out of 8 northeastern states were corona free on 27th.April as per Junior Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh).

Now let’s look at some factors which might possibly be the reason for this weird situation:

·        People in relatively poor states don't go for International travel as much as people from well-developed states or economic centers like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi etc.

·       People from states like Bihar and UP etc. have gone through so many pandemics like crises such as Malaria, Chickenpox, Polio, Plague, etc. and now they have developed immunity to deal with (at least up to some extent) this kind of viruses.

·       Poor people’s range of movement from the point of the residence is relatively low. Most of them travel to nearby places or to work only, so the probability of catching a virus is less unless the virus is present in close proximity.

·        Another possible reason could be mandatory BCG (Bacille Calmette Guerin) vaccination in India though it is relevant for Rich and poor both.

There are certain factors that may prove this observation wrong. For instance, what if these poor states have already large no. of cases but the count is less because of inadequate testing facilities or State governments may be hiding the actual figures especially in case of death caused, as any state’s efficiency to deal with this kind of disaster is evaluated on the basis of no. of deaths caused. If these are the reasons, cases in the near future will shoot up like anything as more and more people will show symptoms or even if they remain asymptomatic, they might lose their life.

Whatever the reason may be so far, these poor or so-called less developed states are in a better position and I hope the figures are real and these states get bigger success in containing the virus in near future. It is very much required because if the virus reaches small towns and villages not only it’ll be very difficult to be contained, the losses will be catastrophic.