I see a lot of people praising West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for her “get-to-the-ground-and-help-people-during-crisis”, and rightly so, I believe. The thing is our politicians have set such low standards for us that the moment they are not discussing somebody’s religious or caste identities, asking followers to shoot down the “enemy” or repeating fake WhatsApp forwards in public speeches, we put them on a pedestal and make a hero out of them.
You may call me a cynic, but in the next budget, when India allocates less than 2% on its healthcare facilities, ask our politicians why they are not out on the streets asking for this basic right. And, this is not an attack on Mamata Banerjee but our whole political culture, which never gave two hoots about healthcare before this pandemic hit us.
Just FYI, India ranks 184th out of 191 in terms of GDP% spend on healthcare, as per WHO.