Contextualizing Indian Experiences on Covid-19: People, Pandemic and Policies

This volume captures the social, political, psychological, administrative, and policy dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Indian context. The book is divided into four parts. Part I highlights social narratives from underprivileged workers, ASHA workers, the LGBTIQ+ community, and sanitary workers. It documents their struggles to develop mitigation, adaptation, and resilience strategies. Part II includes case studies and stories of self-management, the mental health of students from rural and urban Maharashtra, and of caregivers. It unveils the path of transformation of self to deal with the issues of anxiety and emotional turmoil caused during and due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Part III consists of resilience, philosophical hope, and solidarity, which reflect the contribution of seva by the Sikh community. It also highlights the contribution of government organizations like Indian Railways, Air India, and the Employee Provident Fund Organization to provide relief to both the people of India and Indians residing abroad to bring people back to the country during the unprecedented times. Part IV discusses the responses of various states of India to the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of policies by the government of India during those times.

Based on empirical research work, this book will be useful for students, teachers, researchers, behavioral scientists, and practitioners of psychology, sociology, human geography, mental health, political science, public health, and public policy. This book will also be of interest to policymakers and the general public to understand the intricacies involved and the essential propositions with regard to pandemics.

Rajesh Kharat is Dean, Humanities, University of Mumbai (on Deputation), Professor and former Chairperson, Centre for South Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has an MA in Political Science from University of Pune and has completed his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from CSAS, JNU, New Delhi. He has published several books and over 30 research papers. He has authored three books, namely, Bhutan in SAARC: Role of Small State in Regional Alliance (1999, South Asian Publishers New Delhi; 2000, International Academic Publications Colorado, USA), Foreign Policy of Bhutan (2005 Manak Publications, New Delhi), and Tibetan Refugees in India (2003 Kaveri Book Service Ltd., New Delhi).

Satishchandra Kumar is Professor and Head at the Department of Applied Psychology & Counselling Centre, University of Mumbai. He is the recipient of a Summer Fellowship from Albert Ellis Institute New York. He has also got the scholarship to undergo supervised Training in Enneagram Professional Training Programme from Helen Palmer Model San Francisco, USA. He was also awarded the Research Fellowship by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. He has published in international peer reviewed journals like Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, and has contributed to Sage volume of Eminent Indian Psychologists 100 Years of Psychology in India.

Kanchana Mahadevan is Professor and Head at the Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai. She has held visiting professorships at LUISS University, Rome (2016, 2019). She has also been a senior fellow at the Justicia Amplificata, Goethe University Frankfurt and Bad Homburg (2018) and at the Moore Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway (2019). She teaches and researches in feminist philosophy, continental thought, critical theory, and political philosophy. She also works in the interdisciplinary areas of aesthetics and film. Her book Between Femininity and Feminism: Colonial and Postcolonial Perspectives on Care (DK Printworld and ICPR, 2014) examines the relevance of Western feminist philosophy in the Indian context, while bringing Western feminism into dialogue with its Indian counterpart.

Meher Bhoot is Professor and Head at the Department of German, University of Mumbai. Her areas of specialisation are German Literature with a focus on Literature of the German Minorities, Postcolonial Studies, and Culture Studies, and her areas of interest are European Cultural History and European History of Art. She is an active member of the German Institutes Partnership with the Universities of Göttingen and Freiburg in Germany. Under the aegis of this partnership, she was a Guest Professor at the Department of Intercultural German Studies, University of Göttingen, Germany in 2017. She is a DAAD Fellow since 2004 and has also been a recipient of the Rotary Cultural and Ambassadorial Scholarship (1997-98).