History has it — apocryphally — that when a French queen was informed of starving peasants falling short of bread, she had remarked, ‘Let them eat cake.’ Insensitivity is integral to the power apparatus, be it in aristocratic France or in democratic Bengal. Consider the Bengal government’s directive to district administrations to proceed with such pre-scheduled engagements as fairs and festivals, albeit by adhering to protocols earmarked to keep Covid-19 at bay. The state government is of the opinion that the cancellation of these events — melas being the metaphorical equivalent of bread and cake — would create an ‘adverse impact’. The narrowness of the logic is astounding. Science and common sense mandate that decongesting public spaces would minimize the impact of the raging pandemic. The state has been steadily logging around 20,000 Covid infections each day with the positivity rate hovering close to 40 per cent. Yet, the Bengal government has given its nod to the administration to go ahead with a number of public extravaganzas — Jungle Mahal Utsav in six districts and the Joydeb Mela in Birbhum are among these — fearing retribution from the very people whose health may now be jeopardized. Given that existing Covid protocols are honoured only in the breach — this has been the case with the Ganga Sagar Mela as well as the New Year celebrations in Calcutta — it is quite possible that the fairs and festivals would pose a risk to the populations of these districts. A surge in Omicron cases in the districts will certainly overwhelm the rickety health structure that is in place there. This, in turn, would put additional pressure on resource-starved district managements, take a toll on local economies, and compromise collective health even if the fatality rate remains comparatively lower.

The real issue in this instance is the cynical priority of the State. The health of the people is being endangered by a wisdom that deems jamborees to be of greater political expediency. This lopsided thinking can be attributed to the compulsions of competitive populism. Festivities and events, after all, are another way of deflecting attention from administrative deficiencies and earning political goodwill. But the powers that be must remember that public mood can be fickle. Another lash from the pandemic on account of myopic policy can darken the people’s sentiments considerably. Fairs, then, would leave a foul stench for the government.