KK Shailaja, former Minister for Health, Social Justice, and Woman & Child Development, Govt. of Kerala, speaks on ‘Policy Implications of the Pandemic’
10 JULY, 2021, Bengaluru: “A major lesson from the COVID-19 response is that states that do not invest in their government health system are at risk of compromising their capacity to respond to a crisis. In the short term, it is imperative that governments continue to strengthen their public health system and augment capacity,” said KK Shailaja, former Minister for Health, Social Justice, and Woman and Child Development, Government of Kerala.
“We must view this crisis as an opportunity to unleash the potential of the human capital, to orient workers and labour markets towards new opportunities for inclusive and sustainable growth as the pandemic has proved to be a litmus test for governance, across the world. We must focus on encouraging enterprises that are based on innovation, new technologies and entrepreneurship with focus on gender and women empowerment,” she suggested while delivering, in virtual mode, the Foundation Day Lecture of the Centre for Public Policy at IIM Bangalore, this evening.
In his welcome address, the IIM Bangalore Director, Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, said: “The Centre for Public Policy has done path-breaking work, over the last 20 years, on a variety of public policy issues. Moreover, IIM Bangalore has a long tradition of working on public systems and public policy. The Centre’s Foundation Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate its work. It is our privilege to have Shailaja Teacher as the speaker for this anniversary celebration as she has shown how to manage complexity in public policy, on the ground, in challenging situations.”
The Centre for Public Policy, established at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore on July 10th 2000, has evolved into a leading policy think tank engaged in cutting-edge research, teaching, training and capacity building. “The Centre for Public Policy works on improving development outcomes across the country and has pioneered the application of management disciplines for delivery of better public services and governance,” said the Centre’s Chairperson, Professor MS Sriram, after introducing the speaker, KK Shailaja, MLA and recipient of several global and national awards.
Role of Strategy, Collaboration & Technology
Listing a rigorous testing regime, a clear communication and people management strategy, through campaigns like ‘break the chain’, and coordination in activities across ministries and departments as critical policy areas in Kerala’s response to the pandemic, Shailaja said a sustainable response to the pandemic, although made possible by a robust health system, also relies on the resilience of many other sectors.
“In Kerala, the Finance Ministry released all the required funds. The health department, police, IT department, public distribution system and others worked together. Thousands of young men and women across the state have volunteered in the last one year to assist the government in COVID-19 care. Technological innovations and Artificial Intelligence have been effectively integrated into the process,” she explained.
According to her, the challenges in tackling the pandemic in the state include demographic ones like population density and an ageing population, as well epidemiological challenges like the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases that cause comorbidities and heighten risk, especially during the pandemic. She explained how these challenges have been addressed with attention being paid to prevention and primary care and by converting Primary Health Care Centres into well-equipped Family Health Care Centres.
Emphasizing the importance of public trust and cooperation, she said the fact that that more than 50% of the state’s population rely on the public health system as compared to 33% in 2016 was testimony to the people’s trust in the state’s health system.
People-centred Approach
“A robust public health system, emergency preparedness, decisive measures to curb the spread of the virus, a people-centred approach and galvanizing public trust have to be at the heart of tackling the crisis. While trying to contain impact of the virus, we must ensure that no section of the population is disproportionately affected,” she said, pointing out that a people-centred approach, built around welfare-pension, food kits, free ration, community kitchens, mid-day meals for children and volunteers to augment relief and social support systems, met the needs of guest workers.
Lessons for Policy Makers
Stating that Kerala drew heavily on its crisis management experiences from the 2018 floods and from fighting the NIPAH virus outbreak, Shailaja observed that a society that is organised around the welfare of all humans forms the bedrock for building back better from the pandemic. “As countries enter different stages of the pandemic, leaders must alter their course of action and update their response to meet recurring waves of the pandemic and other natural disasters. We have to establish best practice models and invest in our health systems and pandemic preparedness. Such a response should be compassionate, caring and humane to take everyone along, on the path of development,” she said, in conclusion.
Click here for KK Shailaja Speech