India and the Pandemic

The First Year
A collection of 24 essays on how India dealt with Covid-19 in 2020, published by Orient BlackSwan. The essays, with a detailed Introduction, cover the history of pandemics, the early stages, the lockdown, the law, impact on economy & society, and the future.
January 28, 2021

In the past year, the novel coronavirus Covid-19 has affected every single part of the world. Over 1.5 million people have died; the global economy has contracted the deepest since the Second World War; and the gains over the decades in poverty eradication may have been erased. Amidst this, how did India fare in coping with Covid-19 in 2020? 

India and the Pandemic looks back at the historical, social, cultural, economic and political aspects of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country. The 24 essays in this volume, written by astute political and social commentators, offer rich insights into the impact of the pandemic, and the response of state and society. The essays tell us what we should have done early on, and what we should have done differently in dealing with this health and humanitarian disaster. They place the current pandemic within the broader history of infectious diseases. They provide valuable lessons for the future, telling us how we should think of organising human society differently if we are to prevent future pandemics. 

Written in 2020, these incisive essays offer a real-time window into the spread of the novel coronavirus disease in India. They make for a thought-provoking read for anyone interested in what happened during the first year of the pandemic.

The volume has an extensive and new Introduction written for the volume 

Section I — Early Stages of Covid-19 in India

Section II — Dealing with Pandemics in India’s History

Section III — Covid-19: The Initial Impact

Section IV — The Law, the Judiciary and Covid-19

Section V — The Lockdown and After

Section VI — Impact on the Economy

Section VII — Impact on Society

Section VIII — The Future

Available online on these pages at:

1. Orient BlackSwan

2. Amazon

3. Flipkart

4. Kindle Edition

 

This article was last updated on March 11, 2021
The India Forum

The India Forum welcomes your comments on this article for the Forum/Letters section.
Write to: editor@theindiaforum.in

Read Also
For the majority of New Yorkers, coping with rising costs of living generates stress, resentment, and incomprehension. Mamdani's campaign that speaks openly about these pressures and urges bold steps is a starting point to address these issues.
Published On: July 01, 2025 Updated On: July 01, 2025
The Pandemic Agreement serves as an essential blueprint in global health security. Its success depends on the sustained commitment, collaboration, and investment of all nations. India’s leadership will be vital for ensuring that the next pandemic finds the nation, and the world, better prepared.
Published On: June 23, 2025 Updated On: June 30, 2025
The ongoing revolutions in AI are exciting. The rush to use it in public-facing applications, however, poses risk as AI does not yet come with guarantees for correctness or tolerance for errors. AI is for now best used for exploratory research or by discerning users trained in critical thinking.
Published On: June 19, 2025 Updated On: June 21, 2025

Sign up for The India Forum Updates

Get new articles delivered to your inbox every Friday as soon as fresh articles are published.

 
 

The India Forum seeks your support...

Donations enjoy tax exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.

You can now also use the QR code in the link above to make a quick one-time donation via UPI.