No impending food crisis

It is times such as these which are the test of a government: how a government responds to a crisis which is not of its making and cannot be avoided. It is reassuring to note that the administration has made no efforts to shirk its responsibility to the people in their hour of need, and that it is not attempting to suggest that there is little it can do, or that its power to meet the exigency head-on is limited.

Already over one crore people in 33 districts have been affected by the floods, with the numbers growing by the day, and nothing is more important than that the officials at the Food and Disaster Management and Relief Ministry be fully prepared to tackle the flood and post-flood situation. This we have been assured of, and the measures that the ministry have outlined seem to us to be sensible and practical.

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However, while official resolve is gratifying to note, alone, it is not enough. The words must be followed up with the commitment and the competence to ensure that the planned measures are brought to fruition. We cannot emphasize enough how crucial it is for the government to perform in this instance.

Nor is this solely a test for the government. In times such as these, it behooves all of us to band together to do what we can for our fellow countrymen and women whose lives have been devastated by the flooding. This includes the opposition, and we expect that it would put the need for unity above that of partisanship. It is thus that we would urge the opposition to call off its planned hartal on Saturday. However, real the opposition's grievances, hartals are never an appropriate response in a democracy, and even less so in the midst of such a critical time for the country.