Why India didn’t close its international border despite a warning from WHO? Hasn’t our government learned anything from the past?
Why India didn’t close its International border despite a warning from WHO? Hasn’t our government learned anything from the past?
Since the 2020 lockdown, it was in November 2021 that international borders were opened, and foreign tourists were welcomed in our country on the condition of them being fully vaccinated. India witnessed a downfall in the number of corona cases since September 2021, and the economy was in significant turbulence, so opening international borders was the need of the hour.
However, it’s 2022 now, and the third wave has arrived in India and according to reports, it would peak in early 2022. Despite the omicron variant being at a surge, the government isn’t ready to shut the international borders to avoid virus transmission.
Is the Modi government so harsh that making money tops over the safety of the general public?
Various people at different authorities, and positions had distinct opinions. Some said it is good to open borders as the case is in control and some said it might be risky to allow international travel as it won’t take much time for the situation to worsen again. Amit Dutt, principal investigator, and scientist at India’s Tata Memorial were not in favor of opening borders, even after 18 months of non-allowance.
On the other hand, India’s Tourism Industry said that it had become a vital need to open international borders so that people can move from one place to another and foreigners can visit India, which will contribute to economy-boosting and providing jobs and opportunities to the people.
Government is smart enough to know that if no restrictions are imposed on traveling, people will travel from one country to another, and that will trigger the third wave the most. People have been stuck and, bored being at home since 2020 and now, if borders were not shut down, people would “Revenge travel”. Revenge traveling is a term used when people travel out of being stuck at a place for a long time.
It is an intelligent and predicted move of the government to not shut borders because then how will the economy boost? To compensate for the stagnant economy since 2020, this move is taken to not stop international travelling because travel and, tourism account for nearly 9% (in 2019) of GDP and, it has a huge role in stabilizing the Indian economy.
The hospitality sector has provided a lot of job opportunities for the people, helping in increasing the national income of the country. Is it because of the national income that government is ready to prioritize the public’s life over the economy?
We are not oblivious of the fact that India must gain its economic stability soon and overcome the crisis but, at the cost of risking the lives of people? No. We are not the only one who is saying this; even the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated that travel and tourism could cause a massive rise in the number of corona cases, as the virus is contagious and the more people travel, the more are the chances of being exposed by the virus.
Government should be get reminded of the time when the nation went in jeopardy for the second time, when we lost counts on the number of deaths, when getting a hospital bed felt like a blessing and when being able to breathe felt like a luxury. Such times were crucial and shall not come again if our government thinks more about us and less about them. Coping with an economic crisis is necessary but not important than the people’s health.
The third wave has already come, reportedly and, could peak in the coming months. Keep your masks up, sanitize yourself from time to time and maintain social distancing.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
