A popular English proverb “cometh the hour, cometh the man” means “In the face of great need, a champion will rise to the occasion” or colloquially it can be “when the hour comes, the man comes”. Today, it could be related to different world leaders who are putting in all the efforts in the pandemic situation caused by Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 confined billions of people to their homes in the form of extended lockdowns, with the stock markets crashing, crippling the global supply chains, shutting down several business establishments and industries. For many leaders across the globe, the need for the hour is to take swift action and concerted efforts to contain this pandemic.
Near to our place, we have a quarantine facility for medical doctors and other health care workers who may have had direct contact with a COVID-19 positive patient. Probably some of them could be tested positive when their swab results come. So every time a COVID-19 patient is tested positive it takes a considerable amount of time and effort to sanitize the area and send the patient to the hospital for treatment. I have seen from the television which area needs to be properly disinfected and sanitized which can be done only by the government machinery. A need arose for this situation for the place I stay.
The only option that was available with me was to connect with the local people’s representatives for help. But in these times of crisis, it would be extremely difficult to connect with them. I have had an opportunity to connect with Dr. R Nataraj IPS (Retired), the former Director-General of Police (DGP) and sitting honorable Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly where I used to discuss some of the social issues over WhatsApp and had a meeting with him personally a year back. He used to respond to my text messages though I am an ordinary citizen and no way connected to politics or public life.
I happened to send a text message over WhatsApp if something could be done to sanitize the area we live in. A point to be noted is this area does not come under his assembly constituency. He is no way obliged to help us in this regard. Within an hour of my message, I received a reply that he would look into the issue. After some time, his personal assistant (PA) Mr. Radhakrishnan Pattabiraman called me to check where I live and how the issue can be resolved. The gentleman needed certain information related to the ward and divisional details of the place so that he could connect with the concerned government official to sort things out. I collected all the required details that he had asked for and called him again to give them. After an hour he got me the number of the Zonal Health Officer (ZHO) who could help solve the problem.
I spoke to the ZHO over the phone and she said that she will look into the issue. Later in the evening, Dr. Nataraj dropped in a message saying that he has asked the Deputy Commissioner of Chennai City Corporation to look into the matter. Today morning around 10:00 AM I saw the area being sanitized and when I inquired the officer, he said that this was done on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner. Finally, the whole area was sanitized and disinfected so that we could get out without any sense of fear.
I reached out to Dr. Nataraj and his PA to thank them for their efforts for they did a commendable job in helping us. In my opinion, though this was not his responsibility, he went out of his way to help, emphasizing that the society at large is more important than individual self-interest.
I would cite the handling of the 9/11 attacks by the then Ney York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a prime example of crisis management in the past. A statesman at the times of crisis must be focused on outcomes, and not procedural formalities while ensuring that the government machinery is precisely aligned. A good public leader should instill confidence about getting through tough situations without appearing to be flogging fairy-tales and rosy pictures for personal political benefits. He must act, be bold and at the same time avoid reckless gambles in moments of crisis.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy- Martin Luther King, Jr.