As the government avoids sharing actual data, society and citizens face the heat.
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- The story: On multiple fronts, the Union govt. has consistently maintained "We have no data", and these are issues that paint it in a bad light or challenge its "alternate facts".
- Covid experience: The 2020 reverse migration of workers was extensively covered by Indian and world media, and World Bank reported a loss of 4 crore migrant jobs in April 2020. But the government, when questioned, said "no data available" regarding how many migrant jobs were lost! In Sept 2020, the Health Minister said "no data available" when asked how many frontline workers died in Covid-19.
- Surveys junked: A huge survey - all-India Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2017-18 - conducted by MoSPI was held back by GoI as it was just before the Lok Sabha 2019 elections; it claimed "data issues" and released it post election results. It showed a big slump in consumption expenditure (meaning poverty was up), for the first time since 1972-73. In July-August 2021, the govt. said "no data available" for manual scavenging deaths.
- NDA: On the issue of deaths due to lack of oxygen availability, "no data available". On the issue of deaths of protesting farmers, "no data available". On the issue of total economic loss due to internet shutdowns, "no data available". On the question of why vaccines were in shortage, the reply was "there is no shortage" (while centres were shutting down).
- Propaganda: Now recall the massive propaganda spread around the Rs.1.76 lakh crores loss in the so-called "2G telecom scam" during the UPA govt. era - this govt. knows the power of data!
- Why NDA: Why "no data available"? Many reasons - (i) it opens up a scrutiny if data are shared, (ii) to deflect accountability to the States of India, (iii) to rewrite the whole story of today -
- Reason 1 - if the govt. shares any such data, then it opens itself for scrutiny by multiple agencies, and in a totally personalised government style, it is very dangerous. So just pretend that no one dies, no jobs were lost, no no failures occurred at all!
- Reason 2 - if data would be shared, then it would not be possible to hold the states responsible. The share in taxes paid to states is dropping sharply since 5 years now. Citizens have to be kept mesmerised about the magic of strong centralisation, so no failure can be accepted at all. That's why the repeated argument - "health is a state subject" (the only people guilty are state governments, earlier governments, or today's opposition)
- Reason 3 - if no data is shared, then soon in the future, the present can be rewritten completely (when people screamed foul, then the missing data on National Health Mission's portal were restored!). Similarly, the second wave's massive tragedy will soon be totally rewritten and public will forget everything. All that's needed is hide all data today.
- What can citizens do: Data is now being hidden on such a gigantic scale, that citizens practically know too little about the truth. But the State itself wants massive data from each citizen, under the umbrella of Aadhar, from things like getting free foodgrains (for the poor) to using Facial Recognition Technology. And the biggest snooping scandal of them all - the Pegasus hack - is about all data of targeted citizens. The dangerous thing is that all this is being done inside the Parliament, with a straight face, and the image of a rules who is above all laws and rules is being projected.
- RTI: Only the Right to Information is able to then help extract some data, getting more difficult with time. Despite all efforts to bury data, the dead buried on the river banks in Covid's second wave showed up during rains, exposing all the buried data (UP state was forced to do their last rites quickly). But at a personal level, citizens are finding it much tougher to even believe their own "lived reality" as the sarkari spin is so strong. Since most media have meekly followed the sarkari line, truth itself is being changed.
- Summary: How can a nation run on untruth for so long? Citizens must demand the right facts, data and statistics, and not fall prey to what's going on.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the logic behind the "no data available" approach of the government. (2) What are the social implications of "no data available", from a citizen perspective?
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