Politics Through Lens of Health: Covid Has Exposed All Hyperboles
With 14 beds per 10,000 people, India ranks 184 among 191 countries in terms of health infrastructure. Have we really progressed as a nation?
Dr Kiran Bala
04 June 2021, Last Updated at 1:03 pm
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Dr Kiran Bala
2021-06-04T12:56:19+05:30
Politics Through Lens of Health: Covid Has Exposed All Hyperboles
outlookindia.com
2021-06-04T13:03:29+05:30
The year 2014 was a watershed period in the history of the world’s largest democracy—after two-and-a-half decade, the Indian parliament saw a majority government by NDA. Despite a coalition with other parties, the BJP won the majority of seats in 16th general elections. A unique, and first-of-its-kind, oath-taking ceremony was held at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan with SAARC nation heads attending the grand ceremony. Citizens of India had voted for the promised new dawn of achhe din (good times). Although word ‘accha’ may have subjective interpretation for voters and politicians, yet to understand the voters’ preference while voting and to understand the importance of health as an issue, the author of this article conducted a study on ‘Health as An Agenda in Indian Politics: A Study of Election Manifestos In 16th General Elections’. The study revealed that health is not a priority as an agenda, neither for voters while making a choice, nor for political parties while drafting election manifestos.