Pandemics and State Response: A Socio-Anthropological Analysis of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh States

Abstract

Pandemics are not new neither to Indian society nor to global economy. The intensity of the spread of a pandemic and the number of people affected in a country and specific regions depend a lot on the measures of state control at the local and centre-level. State-civil society cooperation led by the Central government and the State governments play an important role in reducing the impact of a pandemic. With the help of evidences collected from previous studies and new reports and available data sets, an attempt has been made to understand the ways in which the state governments are working to control the spread of the pandemic. West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have been taken up for the analysis because of their high density of population and almost similar infrastructural development and the problems faced during the spread of a pandemic. The state responses in these two states have been analysed and compared with other states which have equally managed to control the pandemic despite lack of infrastructural availability.

Keywords: Pandemic, Infodemic, State, Social Anthropology, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh