Channelize all resources to control the pandemic, says 65 organisation of Vikalp Sangam - (Vikalp Sangam recommends various short and long term measures to deal with the pandemic

The abysmal state of the public health system and the callous ignoring of credible expertise and clear warnings, by the central and most state governments, have brought us here. [...] As Ritu Priya, professor at Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a member of the Vikalp Sangam Core group says, “the focus now must shift on human and environmental health and well being.” Vikalp Sangam, a platform working towards socially just and ecologically sustainable,alternative pathways to well-being, suggests immediate, short, medium and long ter. [...] Accordingly, the statement also demands wages, food and social security for such sections, including the elderly, orphaned children, migrant and daily wage workers, transgenders and sex workers, single mothers, pregnant and lactating women, small-scale farmers, fishers, pastoralists who cannot access the market and amongst them especially women, Dalits and Adivasis. [...] In addition, medium and long measures recommended by the Vikalp Sangam include enabling local, self-reliant livelihood options that are also ecologically sustainable, revamping and democratising the public health system, enhancing mental health and counselling services, prioritising restoration and conservation of natural ecosystems, and enabling agency over common lands and productive resources t. [...] As Ashish Kothari of Kalpavriksh, one of the coordinators of the Vikalp Sangam, says: “We have to move to alternative ways of achieving human well- being while protecting the ecological foundations our lives depend on and there are hundreds of practical initiatives already that show us the way.” Link to full joint statement: prioritis.