THE CPI(M) state secretariat congratulates the Kerala LDF government which is doing an exemplary effort in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. Kerala has become a model in controlling mortality rate and spread of the disease.

The important aspect here is the ability of the leadership to combine the achievements of the Kerala Model that gives importance to public health and the democratic consciousness of the Kerala society even in the face of constraints and crisis.The government was able to announce the country’s first economic package and ensured that not a single person is starved.

Kerala is the first state to enact legislation to deal with epidemics. The chief minister's press conference gave confidence to Malayalees all over the world. Kerala's unique achievements have got worldwide recognition. The people of Kerala, irrespective of their party affiliations, joined hands with the government in its fight against the pandemic. The baseless allegations by the opposition are futile attempts to weaken this broad consensus and undermine the widespread recognition of the government. It is condemnable that a section of the media is indulging in false propaganda by forgetting their responsibility even in such a situation.

It is the responsibility of the government to take all extraordinary measures to save human life in these extraordinary situations. The existing laws give the government such powers. In such circumstances, human life and the survival of society is more important than the privacy of an individual.

It is important to collect personal information of an individual to take safeguard measures and prevent the spread of the disease. At the same time, it must be ensured that personal information collected is not used for commercial purposes. The government engaged Springlr as it has a ready to use system for this.

When certain apprehensions were raised, the government took steps to ensure and strengthen all safety measures. India doesn’t have any specific law on information security. Currently, the Indian government is using the provisions added to the IT Act and the rules framed under it. The Kerala government has ensured that the agreement reached confirms with the present act and rules.

Extraordinary measures taken in exceptional circumstances will be for that period. Although the freedom to travel is a fundamental right in the country, it has been controlled and curtailed during this period due to the extraordinary situation. Violation of privacy rights by monitoring people is a precautionary measure taken to prevent the spread of the disease. These experiences will help formulate policy for the wider use of information technology and information security.

As the threat of Covid-19 continues, it is necessary to strengthen the existing efforts by taking innovative measures. For that, the expertise of technological experts and other professionals should be used increasingly.

The state secretariat of the CPI(M) endorses all measures taken by the state government, including the use of technology in combating the Covid-19 threat. These steps helped the state in controlling Covid-19.

Whenever normalcy is returned, the actions and decisions taken during this period would be analysed in detail to assimilate the experience by drawing lessons for the future course of action.
Now the people of Kerala have recognised the destructive, negative, and inhumane attitude taken by a section of the opposition. The experience of Singapore and Japan points to the fact that the days of caution and concern are not over. Since it is difficult to predict the duration of the pandemic, the efforts of vested interests to create controversy and divert the attention of the government and the people must be ignored. The entire state should rally together with the activities of the state government. We appeal to the people to recognise those who are playing with the lives of the people for narrow political gains even at the time of this pandemic.