India should prepare for Continuity of essential services

As Coronavirus is spreading across India, many experts believe that India is already at stage of Community transmission and which may eventually lead to virus becoming epidemic.

Its time Indian Govt should identify critical areas of economy and ensure the continuity of essential services. All Govt institutions, departments, employees and connected bodies of these critical areas should be kept fully functional & running without any disruption. The workers employed in these areas should be declared emergency workers whether they are in Govt sector or private sector.

As virus spreads, our workforce on front lines of public services (like Doctors & medical workers etc) will be in fear of their personal safety and also in social and financial insecurity about getting infected with Coronavirus. These workers, in Govt as well as private sector, should be given full health coverage, treatment & life insurance on top priority basis. To address fears of any financial insecurity, the workers on front line duties of public interaction (who are at high risk of getting infected) should be given State sponsored life insurance of appropriate amounts according to position and rank of these workers. The workers in the bottom ranks should be given at least 10 Lakh Rs life insurance while Doctors in hospitals should be given at least 50 Lakh Rs life insurance. Similar details should be worked out for ranks of all frontline emergency workers. This money will be paid by the Govt in addition to their any existing life insurance policy money and will be paid to next of kin of workers who die in line of duty due to contraction of Coronavirus illness.

All emergency workers should be given all protective gears, Masks etc to carry out their duties. They should also be given training and guidance on health hazard and proper use of all protective equipment. Govt should arrange transport systems chartered buses, limited Metro Rail connectivity (only for these workers), Govt vehicles, conveyance etc as well as travel allowances to these people so that they can transit from work and home without any inconvenience.

Many of these critical areas are under ambit of private sector. Govt should pass necessary orders and notifications to coordinate with private companies and regulate them according to needs of the state. All employees of private sector companies in these critical areas will also qualify as emergency workers and will be given same privileges as Govt employees during the duration of pandemic emergency.



Healthcare system - Govt and Private Hospitals, Clinics & labs - Quarantine Zones and temporary hospitals


Entire healthcare system should be organized to deal with Coronavirus emergency. All Doctors & Nurses in Govt hospitals which are presently on contractual basis should be made permanent with full privileges of retirement Pensions etc. Govt should pass all necessary notifications to regulate and expand Coronavirus treatment in all major private Hospitals which have the resources. All healthcare workers, Doctors, Nurses, Ward boys, Ambulance staff etc should be given protective masks and suits on TOP priority. Adequate security arrangement and Police Personnel and security guards should be provided to ensure safety of all Medical workers in Hospitals.



Electricity Generation and Distribution - From Coal Mines to Power Plants to Consumers - Entire chain of electricity generation & distribution should be preserved.

Emergency workers will include Engineers in power plants to last mile colony line men in cities and towns who service faults at distribution panels. Every worker in the chain will qualify as emergency worker and they should remain on duty 24/7 on rotational shifts.



Water Distribution - Water filtration plants - Canals, Reservoirs, Dams etc - Sewer systems, treatment plants & Drainage

Entire Water distribution and sewer treatment system should be kept functional. Emergency workers will include all engineers, employees, plumbers, city sanitation workers and all officers involved in this chain



Police and Law enforcement agencies - CRPF and Military - Army Medical Corps

Police will be needed to control law & order situation, enforcing lockdowns and travel restrictions across country. If situation deteriorates, CRPF and Army may have to be deployed in all major cities and enforcing lockdowns and participate in disaster relief efforts as happening in other countries. As India's healthcare system is understaffed and lack many kind of resources, Army Medical Corps will be needed as a backup and supplement to civilian healthcare system.



Communication systems - Mobile and Landlines - Broadband network & Television Broadcasting

Govt must ensure uninterrupted services of all Mobile and Landline networks, Broadband and Cable television to all public institutions, Govt offices as well as all Citizens of country. A lot of communication network is in hands of private companies like Airtel and Reliance. Govt should order these companies to keep their services running at all time. All Data Centers, Mobile Transmission towers and Customer support apparatus should remain functional. All staff employed from top management to the lowest level line service technicians should be kept on duty.



Banking system - Public and Private Banks - ATMs and other facilities including Digital and internet banking

Entire Banking system should remain fully functional. All Local banks of private as well as Govt should remain open as their usual routines. If need arises, some of the unnecessary staff can be temporarily furloughed or put in rotation. All ATMs should be fully functional. Online banking, APP banking, Mobile wallets, Digital transactions, RTGS, NEFT etc should be fully functional.



Energy sector - Oil & Gas Production and Distribution - Distribution of Petrol, Diesel, CNG, PNG, LPG to consumers - Foreign Oil Trade supply line

Production and supply chain of Oil & Gas sector should be fully functional. From production at Gas fields to distribution to end consumers, there should be no disruption. All Petrol and CNG pumps should remain functional. All domestic Piped Natural gas connections (Govt as well private) should remain fully functional. Distribution network of LPG should be fully functional. Govt should ban all Oil exports by private energy companies to foreign countries. Govt should maintain sufficiently large strategic Oil reserves for emergency. Oil import and tanker trade should continue without disruption. If need arises, bypass American sanctions regarding Iran & Venezuela Oil trade.



Supply chain of essential commodities like Food and medicines - Pharmacies and food stores - Pharmaceutical and Medical supply industry - Biotech & Biomedical sector - Safal outlets & Mother Diaries, State Milk schemes etc

Entire chain of production and distribution of essential commodities should be preserved. Industry for production of respirators masks and protective gear should be nationalized and mass production of all protective gear should be expanded massively. Govt should implement all anti profiteering laws so that private companies don't overcharge for their goods and services. Govt should also give subsidies in areas where goods and services remain high due to various bottlenecks and economic shocks. Govt should increase the procurement of food and medicines from farm sector and Pharmaceutical industry for distribution to Govt sponsored outlets and medicine dispensation at hospitals and dispensaries.



City sanitation and garbage disposal - Local bodies and Municipal Corporations 

All state Govt and local bodies of cities, towns and villages should ensure clean environment.Garbage should be disposed regularly. Public places should be regularly disinfected and cleansed. Cleaning of Public drainage and other sanitary work should be done regularly and more often. An action plan should be worked out for disinfection of entire cities and towns as going on in foreign countries like South Korea and China.