Family, not migrants: Why India needs to emulate the Naveen Patnaik approach
For a country riven with polarising issues and counter-narratives even during times of the pandemic, Naveen Patnaik’s human touch is an approach that is worth emulating.
Sipping coffee in the Central Hall of the Parliament, a senior journalist peered over her reading glasses and asked me, “What is Naveen Patnaik’s secret sauce of success? We see leaders’ speeches running into hours compared to Naveen’s five minutes, and yet he is the most successful chief minister.” It’s a sauce that many are trying to decode and are still at it.
Day before yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, as I watched Naveen Babu beaming live on televisions across Odisha, seated in his pristine, trademark white kurta-pyjama; it was apparent. It’s not about his policies, his politics or his people. It’s about the man himself, his human touch. Let me elaborate.
As India proceeds to the possible easing of lockdown after May 3, political leadership across India are focusing on migrants and their return to their respective states. The challenges of transiting the migrants, registering them, quarantining, ensuring that their influx does not trigger the spread of infection in villages are matters of concern and rightly so.
For India, they are migrants, but when Naveen Patnaik appealed to Odisha a couple of days ago, he didn’t term them as migrants. He held them in a different stead, and subtly nudged and inspired Odisha too to look at them differently. He emotionally appealed, “Many Odia brothers and sisters will return to Odisha from the most corona-affected states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and our neighbouring West Bengal. They are our household members. During times of crisis, mother and motherland come first to our minds. They all are our children. Our brothers and sisters; taking care of them is our duty.”
ପ୍ରଥମେ ଆମ ପାଇଁ ଚ୍ୟାଲେଞ୍ଜ ଥିଲା ବିଦେଶରୁ ଫେରୁଥିବା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଇଭଉଣୀଙ୍କ ଯତ୍ନ ନେବା। ଓଡ଼ିଶା ପ୍ରଥମ ରାଜ୍ୟ, ଯିଏ କି ସେମାନଙ୍କ ପଞ୍ଜୀକରଣ ଆରମ୍ଭ କଲା। ସେତେବେଳେ ସରକାରଙ୍କୁ ସହଯୋଗ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ମୁଁ ଅନୁରୋଧ କରିଥିଲି। ଆପଣମାନେ ସହଯୋଗ କଲେ। ଆମେ ପରିସ୍ଥିତିକୁ ଭଲ ଭାବରେ ନିୟନ୍ତ୍ରଣ କରିପାରିଲେ। #OdishaCares pic.twitter.com/MeUHziQuP5
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) April 29, 2020
For India’s political leadership, they are a section of society called migrants, but when it comes to Naveen Patnaik, he wants Odisha to hold them to their heart — not as migrants, but as members of their family. That’s what sets him apart from others, makes him different. His human touch — even in these uncertain times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He exhorted Odisha through this three-minute message on the three challenges that the state had faced so far with reference to Covid-19, and emotionally appealed for cooperation to ready up for the fourth one. The first challenge was taking care of those who returned from abroad. The second was to take care of those who had returned from Nizamuddin in Delhi. The third was taking care of those who returned from West Bengal, and the fourth was those who would return from other states back to Odisha.
With his human touch, he has actualised and assimilated the migrant population as a family to Odisha. His usage of terms like “our children” and “mother and motherland” has paved the path for a socio-psychological bonding in the state for the migrant’s return, especially when any influx is circumspect in the eyes of the local population. His appeal to Odisha has opened the doors for community mobilisation and participation, for Panchayat-level mandatory registrations, and 14-day quarantine. Without the people imbibing the returnees as a family and cooperating with government guidelines, all of this could come undone.
Certain phrases from political leadership seep their way into the hearts and minds of people. These influence them to act, rather than react, in a specific manner. Naveen Patnaik’s phrases intended to do the same. He sought out Odisha by mentioning that; if those who come from outside the state stay healthy, then families will stay healthy, the village and society will stay healthy. A slight neglect could put all in danger, and being a matter of life and death, such mistakes by even 10 per cent people could increase the problem by a hundred times. His simple but humane words made sense and from what I have gathered over the past two days, they have seeped in and are seeping in.
For a country riven with polarising issues and counter-narratives even during the times of the pandemic, Naveen Patnaik’s human touch is an approach that is worth emulating for the nation. Of being human, of feeling human, and indulging in human emotions and bonding that makes humanity better than anything else in this world. At a time when name-calling between political parties in Delhi is warming up again, central teams to states, all are creating furore on both sides, corona-warriors are being attacked, and migrant populations are being watched with suspicion; Odisha’s bachelor Chief Minister’s approach comes as a marked departure from the usual.
Odisha has shown remarkable preparedness and resilience against Covid-19 with its seven million women SHG members exhibiting tenacity and its corona-warriors literally sleepless over the past months. But the toughest challenge not only for Odisha but also for India lies ahead. If Odisha takes to heart the human touch of its Chief Minister, it could create history in India as a state that controlled the spread of Covid-19 in these troubled times. The fight over the next few days is not only going to be on healthcare preparedness, but it is also the last-mile integration of the returnees not as migrants but as members of the local population’s family. If it does happen as Naveen Patnaik hopes for, then the ultimate winner won’t only be Odisha and its people; it would also be a shining example of how humanity won, humaneness won, the human touch won and coronavirus lost.
Mankind has always risen to challenges and to greater nobility and glory in times of crises. When the dust settles, how Odisha rose and responded to this human touch of Naveen Patnaik will be for posterity to judge. Fingers crossed.
As for Naveen Babu, are you still decoding his secret sauce of success?