Time to give a push towards greater federalism

In the past month, the Centre has dumped virtually all management of the Coronavirus outbreak on the States. This after all the machismo bravado of the Prime Minister in the end of March when he imposed the lock-down on the states. A lock-down that continued for 42 days and later for another couple of weeks with some relaxations.

As far as the pandemic is concerned, the PM has now literally vanished from the national scene. What is the message to the states?

The message is: federalism.

In order to save their populations from the pandemic, the states now need to lobby for greater federalism. It has been two months since the Centre released Rs 15,340 from the Goods and Service Tax to the states. This was not help, this was money anyway due to the states.

In April, the Centre approved Rs 17, 200 crore in revenue-deficit grants for 14 of India’s 28 states. This included Rs 11,090 crore under the State Disaster Risk Management Fund to set up quarantine facilities.

Punjab – which has lost a third of its expected annual revenues of Rs 88,000 crore – was to receive Rs 660 crore of the disaster relief fund. There is no news if that has happened.

In any case the amount is, as the Punjab Finance Minister said, ‘chicken feed’. The mega Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus that the PM announced in April is a hoax because all it does is allow states to borrow more from the Centre. With revenues falling, states in red, already a Rs 2.25 lakh crore owed by Punjab to Centre from the past, it is anyone’s guess if the states can really borrow and how will they repay.

There is no doubt that the Centre is being arrogant and miserly, the states have been stretched to capacity, and the people around the nation are suffering. In such a scenario, it is incumbent upon the states to look for options to help their people, ramp up medical facilities.

It is here that a breakthrough has occurred in science which the Centre remains blissfully unaware about but the states should tap independently. These forays are in the areas of testing and treatment.

Currently, there are two tests that determine the Coronavirus presence in a human body: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and antigen. While the PCR test detects virus genomes, the antibody test shows B-cell immune response against infection. Both tests complement each other as in a person can show antibodies even if the PCR test turns out be negative.

The issue is the time taken for results from these two tests – one to two days. The time spent is one of the biggest hurdles in contact tracing and treatment. This time is of great importance because contacts can move infecting others and treatment can be delayed leading to increased symptoms, including fatality.

In the last few days Punjab has started showing an alarming rise in the Coronavirus cases. Currently Punjab is approaching 12,000 total cases and 500 new cases per day. This demands that Punjab look worldwide for solutions that can help the state contain the contagion.

Recently Australian researchers have claimed a rapid Coronavirus blood test to determine whether a person is infected with COVID-19 — or if they have been in the past. The test uses blood samples to look for the agglutination, or a clustering of red blood cells, caused by the Coronavirus.

Similarly, in a secret trial, developed by a University of Oxford consortium with diagnostics firms, through a finger-prick home test, researchers can provide results with 98.6 per cent accuracy within 20 minutes. the results have just been published. Both the Australian and the UK tests can be done in any blood laboratory, even at home.

Given how the Central government has abandoned the states, Punjab must approach these foreign laboratories to learn the technology and seek a quick technology transfer. If we can find patients early, we can ensure they survive with minimum treatment and ensure the society’s health. We can do the same with vaccines once they are available. So should the other states of the Union of India.

The Centre has never allowed greater federalism in India, but the Coronavirus outbreak gives us an opportunity to move in that direction. Right now, it is our dire need.