How TS Singh Deo’s approach pushed community leaders to fight Covid-19

On Friday morning, a distinguished member of a minority community had an unexpected caller. Chhattisgarh’s Health and Panchayat Minister T S Singh Deo was on the line.

What transpired later was no less than a breather, recalled the member. While the entire community was under the scanner following the spread of coronavirus, Singh Deo’s gesture came as a big respite.

“The minister humbly requested that community leaders must come forward and identify those who could be suspected carriers of coronavirus,” he said. The minority community should never feel insecure, he said.

The minister’s approach propelled community leaders. They were on the job, identifying Covid-19 suspects. This was part of Singh Deo’s strategy to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Over 90,000 people have been quarantined in the state after the outbreak and this helped control the situation in Chhattisgarh. Just 36 positive cases have been identified in the state (as of Saturday); of them, 24 have recuperated. “I think, starting early (in taking preventive measures by his department) was the turning point,” Singh Deo told Business Standard. But for him, the start was not politically smooth.

The health minister was allegedly not invited to the first meeting convened by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the second week of March to review the preparation against Covid-19. Singh Deo, however, played it down. “Maybe the meeting was called in a haste but I think the Chief Minister’s Office should have ensured that the health minister attended it,” he later told reporters. He could not even hold a video conference with district officials to review the situation.

Further, the health department acquired a hotel to house doctors combating coronavirus at AIIMS. But the doctors had to leave unceremoniously as the hotel management refused to cooperate. The state government failed to take any action against the hotelier.

Even as Chhattisgarh fights coronavirus, simmering differences between the two stalwarts are spilling out in the open in the state’s political cauldron. Singh Deo, one of the main strategists and brain behind drafting the attractive election manifesto, was a strong contender for the chief minister’s post when the Congress trounced the BJP in December 2018, ending the latter’s 15-year rule.

However, the OBC factor tipped the scale in favour of Baghel. The Opposition BJP is not missing out to take a dig at the situation. BJP MLA and former minister Brijmohan Agrawal said: “Chhattisgarh may also witness a Madhya Pradesh-like political situation.”

Despite political ups and downs, neither Chhattisgarh nor the minister’s confidence faltered. When asked whether his absence from the first meeting convened on the pandemic had anyway affected the working or morale, Singh Deo said not really as working was a continuous process and a concerted effort of the entire department.

“We can give our inputs and we can give our suggestion and direction where required, but eventually, the work has to be done by the executive,” he said, adding that he was happy that the team stood up to the test of the time. The health department in coordination with other departments had started the containment exercise in January itself — by January 27, rapid response teams were in place.

Singh Deo said the chief minister took a timely step by closing all major academic and commercial institutions before the nation-wide lockdown was imposed on March 25. They (Singh Deo and Bhupesh Baghel) are in constant touch and interacting regularly to deal effectively with the situation, he added.

But their observations do not substantiate. While Baghel advocates opening borders at the earliest, Singh Deo is sceptical. “People coming from across the border will be a big challenge to handle because we don’t know whether they are carriers,” he said. He as a strategy in place: Widening the testing facility and quarantine as many as possible away from their home.

Singh Deo, the titular maharaja of the erstwhile Sarguja State, had a bizarre addiction of accepting challenges — both administratively and politically. And when he was sidelined by the Late Vidya Charan Shukla in the civic body election in 1994 despite creating a Congress bastion in the region, he took one upon himself. He not only contested the election as independent but also won and became the chairperson of Nagar Palika. Majority of the candidates he fielded won the election. He, however, never joined hands with other political parties.

And he still follows it. He exhorts people may make claims but he will never join the BJP even if he is born 100 times.