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Comment by danans | Hacker News Reader

It will be interesting to see if India is able to be effective in this lockdown. Unlike China, centralized control has been limited in recent history, even at the local level.

But as living standards have risen, some people have developed civic sense. Also, on the individual, family, and community level, there are many traditional practices that are similar to social distancing that, though they have some questionable origins in repressive social structures.

At least they are not in denial anymore.

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Yes, but people are very afraid of police and authority in India, so Indian citizens can be made to comply if the police is deployed in force.

Where I think it would falter is in keeping the essential supplies running. Even todays PM speech contained no indication that essential services will have to be running. Without that lockdown could turn ugly.

There was an official document sent out on the official social media and traditional media channels that answers all these questions [1]. td:lr, essential services will continue to work

[1]: https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1242476674710560770

Yes thats all fine, but the local cop maning the check point should be aware of these terms and behave humanely, that is what I fear won't happen. That is what is observed all over the country last 3 days.

Not to mention the massive possibility that the cops at checkpoints will see in the bribes the can collect to let people pass.

What would you rather have cops do to people riding around on motorcycles without helmets in clear violation of curfew? These are likely folks with a mobile phone (safe assumption given mobile phone penetration in India) who have heard the news and know that cops are cracking down on people in the streets.

To go out despite knowing what they know is tantamount to violating curfew with impunity. Cops are not in the streets to provide a PSA about COVID19. They are there to enforce the law. For once they are vs. taking bribes (a common topic shout Indian cops on HN). Now you have a problem with that as well? Please suggest a scalable solution. The time to coddle people into doing their part to “arrest” the spread of COVID19 has passed.

Are cops in other countries swinging lathis to enforce lockdown. I suggest that the cops politely explain the need for the restriction, and what are the citizens rights in this situation, with assurance of due process if people have legitimate reason to go. Remember, in UK even daily exercise, visit to park counts as a legitimate reason.

I believe that people can be allowed around for such activities as long as social distancing is followed.

How is social distance enforced when you are riding pillion on a motorcycle?

Name another country with the population of India, level of illiteracy, lack of civic sense, and general disregard for rules. If said country exists and has implemented a scalable solution, let's propose it to the Indian authorities.

What do you do when all the polite explanations does is earn you a finger. Not a rhetorical question, wish I knew the answer.

The police is not that well respected by the people and rarely do the cops work for the people at least for their day to day interactions. People see them as rotten institutions there to only to collect bribe and do the bidding of the political party in power. Unless you have some clout even registering a complaint with them like a burglary or theft is a challenge. They would do everything in their capacity to prevent that from happening. Unless the commissioner is your neighbor or a buddy you will have a tough time.

This is harsh on police officers who genuinely want to make a difference, but they are a shrinking breed. Even a driving motivation to become a police officer is for the opportunity to get bribes. Lower level recruitment by the police are a complete sham riddled with corruption. A constable bribes to get the job.

Polite explanation works when there is some mutual respect.

Is there no government website? How are people supposed to verify if something is “official”?

There is. But due to the unique social makeup of the internet in India, a lot of people can use social media on mobiles rather that visit websites. It's quicker to use social media for such notifications

https://www.mohfw.gov.in/

They whole county lockdown, is not practical.

I would love to know what's your perspective on this like what else the govt should be doing?

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