Shivaji Dasgupta
In the last two weeks, every reader must have received multiple desperate queries for available hospital beds and oxygen cylinders. Almost overnight, a mammoth nationwide peer-to-peer network powered by social media is directly fighting the battle against the virus, supplementing the valiant efforts of the organised medical workforce and supply chains.
The task of the day is to recognise the magnitude of this crisis and forge a game plan for public-private partnership, so that deaths can be avoided. P2P networks which helped shape the Jasmine Revolution and unified protestors globally are now being applied for basic survival, as we are relying on our fellow citizens in our toughest times. Instead of being unproductively critical, the challenge is now to mobilise every useful resource on a wartime priority basis and here I mean brands and corporations.