A year on, Indian media is still to tell the full story of the lockdown – By Kalpana Sharma
As anniversaries go, we are on the cusp of one that the government is unlikely to mark but the ordinary people of India will remember for years to come. On March 24, 2020, at 8 pm, the prime minister appeared on national television and, without prior warning, announced a national lockdown that would come into effect in four hours.
Even the shock of his demonetisation announcement on November 8, 2016, also at 8 pm, did not compare to this. The common factor in both announcements, three and a half years apart, was that the poor were the ones who paid the price.
As we approach March 24, 2021, the poor in India are still paying the price for that fateful decision…. What have we in the media learned from our coverage of the pandemic, including the impact of the lockdown?…
