1.Speed up second dosing of Covishield vaccination. Don’t rely heavily on protection from single dose

A study by Delhi’s Sir Gangaram Hospital which shows hardly any extra protection from a single vaccine dose against Covid-19 must prompt GoI to hasten second dose delivery to beneficiaries. Against 43.5 crore first doses, just 12.3 crore second doses have been administered so far.

One reason for this lag is the mandatory 84 day gap between first and second Covishield doses. Given that there is a discernible increase in supply in recent days, GoI must consider reducing this gap. Further, it must ensure that greater effort is taken to ensure that those who took one dose return for the next shot.

GoI must also preorder more doses so that vaccine companies are incentivised to up production. The new vaccines expected to be available by late September or early October could be reserved for the unvaccinated. Having set itself a target to fully vaccinate all adults by December, governments mustn’t rest on the laurels of partial vaccination. With nearly 400 million people yet to have Covid antibodies and the Delta virus predominating in circulation there is no room for complacency.

2.English for all: Encourage teaching of the global link language. Data shows children want to learn English

Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has evoked some strange observations. Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan used it as a convenient peg to characterise English-medium schools in his country as an example of adoption of someone else’s culture. He was apparently unmindful of the irony that comes from his own education, which included a stint in a British school that traces its origin to the 7th century, and also time at Oxford. But on this occasion, his views may have had some in India nodding in agreement.

A popular framing of this argument in India is that if a child’s early years of schooling is in the mother tongue it aids learning. In the political arena, it becomes a case of English, a colonial inheritance, versus Indian languages. This is incorrect and also unfair as the same logic doesn’t seem to apply to the kin of many important people who propagate this line. There are two issues to consider. A salient feature of Indian society is its linguistic diversity that is also the basis of the formation of some states. The Constitution has 22 languages in its eighth schedule. A straight comparison with countries that lack this level of linguistic diversity is inappropriate.

Increasingly, English is the popular choice as a medium of instruction. Data from the 75th round of NSS (2017-18) shows that 16.7% of students picked English-medium instruction as the reason to attend private schools, the third most cited cause. UDISE report of 2019-20 shows that a little over 25% of schoolchildren now study in English-medium schools, with Haryana reporting a 23 percentage point increase over a five-year period. More than half the schoolchildren in the five southern states chose English-medium.

There’s a practical reason for this trend. English opens a pathway to a global repository of knowledge and opportunities. By contrast, Indian languages have been hamstrung by the lack of effort in creating adequate material to keep up with an ever-expanding universe of knowledge. National Education Policy 2020 seeks to address it with the promise of high quality bilingual textbooks to help students speak in both their home language and English, the very thing the Andhra Pradesh government is trying. Being practical is not slavery. NEP also pointed out that languages such as English, Japanese, Hebrew, among others, remain relevant through a steady stream of quality learning material and a consistent update to their vocabularies. That should be the focus of Indian language institutions.

3.Don’t believe the Taliban’s rhetoric. Women’s rights are under threat

The international community must make the equal and fair treatment of women a precondition for formally recognising the Taliban regime in Afghanistan — with an enforcement mechanism to ensure that reality matches commitments

As the Taliban takes over Afghanistan, Afghan women, fearful of their lives and rights, have been speaking up. These fears are rooted in the country’s dark history of the Taliban rule, between 1996 and 2001, when systemic violations of women and girls were institutionalised. The regime imposed Sharia and interpreted the Islamic law ruthlessly, prohibiting women from working and girls from attending school, and allowing women in public places only if they covered their faces and were escorted by male relatives.

Now, as the Taliban returns, so do memories of the horrors of its brutal rule. Nearly a quarter of a million Afghans were forced to flee since the end of May, 80% of them women and children, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. More Afghan women and children were killed in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since records were kept in 2009.

4.Between word and intent: On CJI remarks on legislative debates

Chief Justice’s remarks on legislative debates flag need for clarity in law-making

The disquiet over the absence of adequate debate or discussion in Parliament is quite widespread. Concerned citizens and sections of the Opposition bemoan the evident haste with which laws are pushed through; presiding officers fret over the low productivity due to time lost amidst unruly protests; and even government representatives may worry that their legislative agenda is not being carried out in time. The Chief Justice of India, Justice N.V. Ramana, has added a new dimension to this sense of discontent by pointing out the absence of any help from parliamentary debates when the courts are faced with ambiguities or lacunae in laws. His description, of a “sorry state of affairs”, would resonate as crucial pieces of legislation are indeed passed without sufficient debate, and often with nothing more than a Minister’s brief reply or a mere assurance in response to any concern raised by some members. The CJI’s concern was possibly occasioned by some specific law such as the Tribunals Reforms Bill, recently passed with a few clauses struck down by the Supreme Court. However, the import of his observation, at a celebration to mark the 75th Independence Day, was that when the courts were unable to fathom the intent behind some laws, the parliamentary record could throw some light if the debates were sufficiently enlightening. He referred to the illuminating debate on the Industrial Disputes Act as an example.

It is quite true that a fuller debate in the legislature would provide greater insight into the intent behind laws, but a situation that requires a scrutiny of such intent ought not to arise in normal circumstances. Legislation should be drafted clearly and the letter of the law should not stray much beyond its purpose and scope. A purposive interpretation of statute is normally required only when the wording of the law is unclear. Otherwise, reliance on House committee reports or parliamentary debates is only an extrinsic aid, and not fully determinative of a law’s meaning. In a recent example, the Supreme Court ruled that the 102nd Amendment to the Constitution ousted the power of State governments to identify backward classes, even though it was vehemently argued by the Government that it was not Parliament’s intention. It highlights the need to have the wording of the law fully reflect the legislative intent. More than the quality of debate, it is the scope for detailed discussion that imparts clarity and a much-needed proximity to the original intent and purpose to any statute. For this, it is vital that important pieces of legislation are scrutinised by standing committees, which will have the advantage not only of eliciting replies from the executive but also inputs from the wider civil society, before the statute is framed.

5.Doctor at the door: On doorstep health-care delivery

5.Doorstep health-care delivery can mitigate the effects of disruption caused by pandemics

Long before the pandemic struck, health experts had warned of a health epidemic — one that involved non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The last two years, however, managed to expose the frailties of even robust health systems in the country that saw not one, but two debilitating waves of COVID-19. It also exposed the chinks in what was traditionally believed to be the armour of health care — institution-based treatment. When access to these institutions was severed all of a sudden, States had to introspect about how they could bolster their health-care set-up in ways that would protect it from such disruptions. For Tamil Nadu, this introspection resulted in its ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’ scheme, a community-based intervention to tackle and treat NCDs and to address the crucial issues of prevention and early detection. Inaugurated by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin earlier this month, it involves a tentative budget in excess of ₹250 crore. It includes population-based screening for the 18-plus population for 10 common conditions — hypertension, diabetes, oral, cervical and breast cancers, TB, leprosy, chronic kidney disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, mental health — and the delivery of hypertension/diabetes drugs to patients aged 45-plus besides to those with restricted or poor mobility. The State, which has a high burden of NCDs, also acted on data that indicated very low community control rates for hypertension (7.3%) and diabetes (10.8%) among patients.

Once the tenacious link between NCDs such as uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, and COVID-19 outcomes was apparent, it became clear that control of these health parameters was paramount and would necessitate uninterrupted access to health-care services. According to the India: Health of the Nation’s States report, in 2016, 55% of the total disease burden in India was caused by NCDs, with the burden of NCDs increasing across all States from 1990 to 2016. The disruption of access to health care during the pandemic did affect compliance to drug regimens, and led to uncontrolled disease, with implications for quality of life too. It is ideal that nations prepare themselves to face further epidemics that might occur and cause similar disruptions in society by arming themselves to overcome such drawbacks. The Tamil Nadu initiative is a well-meaning notch in trying to address this; the efficacy of its chosen method of door delivery of drugs has been proven earlier with the supervised drug regimen, or DOTS therapy used in tuberculosis control. Ultimately, the success of a well-conceived programme rests in the proper implementation of each of its components. If Tamil Nadu is able to demonstrate, with this scheme, that it is possible to maintain the continuum of care even in the most trying of circumstances, then, here is a model that could inspire other States to follow suit.