Sudhir Kumar Rakesh
IAS (Retd.)
Patna : I came across an article written by Ms. Sagarika Ghose in the Times of India, Patna, on May 25, 2020, titled – “The South India Model- What north India could learn about governance and citizenship”.
Ms. Sagarika Ghose introduces this article by stating – “In coronavirus times, what Kerala thinks today, India should think tomorrow. Kerala has over 800 Covid cases, yet so far only 5 have died. Mortality in other states is far higher. For example Gujarat, with one of the highest mortality rates in India is reporting over 800 deaths with over 13,000 cases……”
She goes on to state – “It’s not just Kerala. South India as a whole is managing the pandemic more deftly than the north. In Tamil Nadu cases have risen sharply, yet mortality is relatively under control. In Andhara Pradesh, under 100 have lost lives and Karnataka-another strong Covid fighter – is reporting under 50 fatalities with over 2,000 cases. In overall healthcare performance, a 2019 World Bank Niti Aayog report shows Kerala and TN rank highest, while UP, Rajasthan and Bihar are at the bottom……”
She further claims in her article – “……That the south India model of governance has always delivered better healthcare and education is well known but what else does north India lack, which puts it at a disadvantage? South India is blessed with two features the north could well emulate: one, stable political competition between parties and two, an assertive citizenry. ….”
The article appears to be mainly a socio-political commentary, in the backdrop of the coronavirus times. However, the article tells us in no uncertain terms that South India as a whole is managing the pandemic more deftly than the north.
Ms. Ghose has not mentioned which states she considers to fall under her “South India”. However, she has mentioned Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka among the South Indian states in her article. Since the present day Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were created as a result of bifurcation of the old state of Andhra Pradesh, it may be safely assumed that Telangana should also be included among the states of “South India”.
Again, Ms. Ghose has not mentioned which states she considers to fall under her “North India”. For the sake of analysis, we will consider Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to be the states which constitute “North India”.
Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Delhi are not being included for the purposes of analysis in this piece because they are Union Territories, not States.
In course of analysis, let us first turn to the Constitution of India. Article-1 of the Constitution reads as under:
“PART I
THE UNION AND ITS TERRITORY
1. Name and territory of the Union.—(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
[(2) The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule.]
(3) The territory of India shall comprise—
(a) The territories of the States;
(b) the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and]
(c) such other territories as may be acquired.”
Thus the Constitution of India does not recognise any “South India” or any “North India”. It only mentions India, that is Bharat, to be a Union of States. Further, that there are States and Union Territories in India.
Now, let us examine the narration of Ms. Ghose’s article in the light of Covid related figures of certain states of India.
If the incidence of Corona infection, cure and deaths is to be examined in terms of deftness of the management of the pandemic by different states, it is only fair that it should be done with relation to the total population of that state. Data relating to various states should be taken from some authentic source and it should be applied to all states under analysis in a uniform manner.
Hence, the parameters for analysis in this examination are going to be – (i) Population of the state, (ii) Total number of Covid infected persons, (iii) Covid infected persons as percentage of population of the state, (iv) Covid infected persons who got cured, (v) Covid infected persons who got cured as percentage of population of the state, (vi) Total number of deaths caused by Covid infection and (vii) Total number of deaths caused by Covid infection as percentage of population of the state.
For the purposes of this analysis, data has been sourced from http://statisticstimes.com/
The data – based analysis has thrown up certain interesting facts :-
(i) In this analysis, the state with largest population is Uttar Pradesh (237,882,725 persons and the state with least population is Himachal Pradesh (7,451,955 persons). [Refer to Table-3 of the analysis for population of all 12 states being analyzed]
(ii) As far as the total number of Corona infected patients in these 12 states is concerned, maximum number of infected persons was in Tamil Nadu (16277) – a “South Indian” State and the minimum number of infected persons was in Himachal Pradesh (203) – a “North Indian” State.
(iii) As far as the number of Corona infected patients as percentage of population of a state was concerned, it was the highest in Tamil Nadu (0.0209 percent) – a “South Indian” State and the minimum percentage was in Jharkhand (0.0010) – a “North Indian” State.
(iv) As far as the number of cured/discharged Corona infected patients is concerned, the maximum number was in Tamil Nadu (8324) – a “South Indian” State and the minimum number was in Uttarakhand (58). It needs to be mentioned here that Tamil Nadu had the highest number of Corona infected patients at 16,277. Uttar Pradesh, which was at second position with 6268 patients, had even lesser number of total infected patients as compared to the total cured patients in Tamil Nadu.
(v) As far as the number of cured/discharged Corona infected patients as percentage of total number of infected patients in a state is concerned, Punjab (92.14 percent) – a “North Indian” State was on top. Uttarakhand (18.30 percent) – a “North Indian” State was at the bottom. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were at second, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth positions respectively.
(vi) As far as the number of cured/discharged Corona infected patients as percentage of total population is concerned, Tamil Nadu (0.0107 percent) is at top position, while Jharkhand (0.0004 percent) is at the bottom of the Table.
(vii) As far as the number of deaths of Corona infected patients is concerned, Uttar Pradesh (161 deaths) is at the top of the Table while Uttarakhand (3 deaths) is at the bottom of the Table.
(viii) As far as the number of deaths due to Corona infection as percentage of total number of Corona infected patients is concerned, Telangana (2.86 percent) is at the top of the Table while Kerala (0.47 percent) is at the bottom of the Table.
(ix) As far as the number of deaths due to Corona infection as percentage of total population of the state is concerned, Tamil Nadu (0.000143 percent) is at the top of the Table while Jharkhand (0.000010 percent) is at the bottom of the Table. In this analysis, both Bihar (0.000010 percent) and Jharkhand (0.000010 percent) have fared better than Kerala (0.000011 percent).
Thus it may be seen that if analyzed on the basis of data, the theories given by Ms. Sagarika Ghose are found to be somewhat pre-determined.
The purpose of writing this analysis is not to confront the ideas of Ms. Sagarika Ghose. She is entitled to her opinion. But if something is put in public domain by such respected journalist / columnist, it should preferably be based on facts.
For a long period of time, the self respect and self confidence of people belonging to certain states has been dented, without verifying actual facts and figures. Earlier, it used to be done by referring to them as “BIMARU” states. Now it should not be done on the artificial and divisive concepts like “North Indian States” and “South Indian States”. These kind of narratives do not contribute to national integration.
Esteemed publications like the Times of India may also kindly consider whether these kinds of articles enhance the feeling of national integration or they serve the purpose of artificial divisions like “North Indian States” and “South Indian States”.