Humans had started to\nbelieve that they had become invincible with technological advancements. Now,\nan organism that is one-thousandth the width of an eyelash has forced about\nseven billion people across the world to not only stop flying, but to also stay\nwithin the confines of their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many are optimistic that a\nvaccine will soon be found and we will return to life as we knew it. This\nmisses a larger point: There are limits to technological advancements.\nDefeating the coronavirus<\/a> doesn\u2019t\nobliterate the risk of emergence of new viruses. With rapid deforestation and\nclimate change, many new viruses are emerging even as we race to find a vaccine\nfor COVID-19<\/a>. And\nthere are no instant vaccines for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While viruses are as old as\nhuman existence, climate change has only aggravated our vulnerabilities. In\n2014, a virus frozen in the Siberian permafrost for 30,000 years was revived in\na laboratory and was still found potent enough to infect an amoeba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With glaciers melting,\nfloods ravaging countries and earthquakes bringing down the sturdiest of human\ncreations, the coronavirus, could well be the trailer for what is to come. If\nwe want to come out of our houses and live with the freedom to move around, we\nneed to course-correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For starters, we must\nredefine human development goals and prioritise sectors which need more\nattention. Both villages and cities will have to be treated in a way that\nfactors in the sustainability of their development. We can no longer turn a\nblind eye to the specific requirements of our villages and cities; we need to\nmake both self-sufficient and non-exploitative when it comes to using natural\nresources. Catchment areas and floodplains will have to be freed from\nconstruction and commercially exploitative activities. Smart cities must be\ncomplemented with smart villages that are not just provided electricity,\nsanitation and water, but are also digitally connected. The move towards green\nenergy, including solar and wind has to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we do need to augment\nmedical education with more doctors and better healthcare facilities, India\nalso needs to give a big push to medical research. Research is not only needed\nin the field of allopathy, but also in the field of traditional medicine such\nas ayurveda. Together, the two can prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Market demand cannot be\nallowed to dictate economic models on which countries are run. Market demand\ninitiated a relentless assault on nature with resources being extracted without\ncaring for the future of the planet. An important question to ask is the role\nthat politics will play in this effort to prevent environmental degradation\nthat exposes mankind to threats like viruses and bacteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human history shows us that\nsome of the most seemingly insignificant things have ushered in some of the\nmost significant changes in the world. In Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari describes\nhow wheat production changed the course of human evolution. Harari says, \u201cWe\ndid not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us.\u201d In Against the Grain, political\nscientist-anthropologist James C Scott said that wheat cultivation is\nresponsible for the arrival of what we now understand as state power, and with\nit, bureaucracy and inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No political party can afford\nto ignore the significance of a virus. Irrespective of their ideological\nmoorings, parties will have to come together to formulate a uniform,\ntransparent and implementable policy to tackle such threats to human existence\nthat know no territorial boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political parties have to\nwork together to develop an agenda for human development that focuses not just\non GDP growth but also on enhancing livelihood security by generating\nsustainable occupations. The virus is just one aspect. We must be able to\nforesee the socio-economic disruptions that will take place as a result of such\nchanges. In a federal system such as in India, it is important for both the\nCentre and the states to have a minimum agreed \u201cpath of growth\u201d which is\nsustainable and reduces dependence on international market forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n