This document discusses development communication and Covid-19 from an Indian perspective. It summarizes the key messages from the Indian media about Covid-19, including the number of cases, stay at home orders, and wearing masks. It also discusses issues with some of these messages, like many Indians living in small homes and lack of clean water. The document critiques the dominant development paradigm of pushing technology for surveillance. It argues communication around Covid-19 has increased uncertainty, panic, and lack of trust in people's ability to solve their own problems. Overall, the document provides an alternative perspective on development communication during the Covid-19 pandemic in India.

1. Dev Com and Covid-19:
An Indian Perspective
Mira K Desai Professor & Head
Department of Extension Education
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai

2. NEW WORDS in
our day to day communication

3. MORE NEW WORDS…………

4. What is Development?
Gross National Product
IdeologyTechnology
Change
Reality

5. What is Communication?
Ideology
Technology Process

6. Development Perspectives
• Economic growth: Gross National Product
and Income per capita
• Improvement in Quality of Life: PQLI (Infant
mortality, death rate, life expectancy, literacy
rate)
• Distribution: social-economic-political-
technological-gender Equality
• Liberation from dependency and
exploitation: Human rights and social justice

7. Dev Com Means….
• Not only a nomenclature debate about
DevCom, C4D, M4D, ICT4D….! Not only about
mere behaviour or practice change of the
people, Not mere Monitoring and Evaluation of
outcomes
• BUT also Change in the quality of life of human
societies, Building up communities and helping
them to help themselves, Making a world a
better place to live not only for present but also
for future

8. What is Communication TODAY?
• Technological connectivity does not guarantee
communication as connectivity does not
guarantee interaction
• Interaction does not mean TWO parties
• Two parties does not necessarily mean both are
listening to each other
• Listening does not mean understanding of each
other
• Understanding may not mean acceptance
• Acceptance may not necessarily make CHANGE

9. Paradigms of Development
DOMINANT PARADIGM
• Industry as prime mover
• Modern society needs
specialists
• Education for participation
in governance
• Persuasion with ‘mass
media’ & Diffusion of
innovation
• Tickle down of profits from
Centre to Periphery
ALTERNATE PARADIGM
• Emphasis “participation in
development”
• self-development and
(individual involvement)
self-reliance (local
resources)
• Communication effects
gap (socio-economic &
information/knowledge
Haves’ and Have-nots’)

10. Covid 19: Indian Media is telling
us….
• Number of Cases
• Medicines and Vaccine
• Stay Home
• Migrant Crisis
• Police and Military enforcement
• Economic Impact of Lock Down
• Misinformation and Fake News

11. Number Game

12. WEARING MASKS
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE
DEV COM DURING COVID-19
3 NATIONAL LOCK DOWNS
SOCIAL PHYSICAL DISTANCING

13. Wearing of Mask

14. WHO States: 'there is currently no evidence
that wearing a mask (whether medical or
other types) by healthy persons in the
wider community setting, including
universal community masking, can prevent
them from infection with respiratory
viruses, including COVID-19'.
World Health Organisation
says

15. Government of India says

16. According to the new Ipsos 15-Nation
Survey on COVID-19, 3 in 4 urban Indians
(76%) are wearing masks to protect
themselves from the deadly COVID-19
virus and pandemic.
SOURCE: https://www.ipsos.com/en-in/
1 April 2020 Coronavirus COVID-19 Public
Opinion Public Health

17. Stay Home Stay Safe
• Census 2001 Household Data: “One third of
rural as well urban houses are ONE ROOM
house and 3.44 % or Urban and 4.44% of rural
houses are used for residence & other use
• Cooperative Societies as new power centres
• Law enforcement agencies making sure you
stay at home
• DAILY DEATHS: by Heart Disease- 26,000
• Fatality of Covid 19 on 10th May is 3.5%

18. Wash Your Hands
• Census 2001 data suggest that Half of the
total Houses have tap water ‘within the
premise’- Rural 34 : Urban 76
• Preconditioned Communication- Assumes
availability of Clean Water, affordability of
Soap or Sanitizer and time to clean hand.
• Assumes you are touching contaminated
surfaces even in your own house

19. Download the App

20. ‘Aarogya Setu’ Application
• It is Government of India's mobile application for
contact tracing & dissemination of medical
advisories to contain spread of COVID-19.
• Centre made it mandatory to download the
contact tracing App for all those stepping out or
going to work.
• On May 10, Aarogya Setu app does not access
your data unless you have Covid-19 said NITI
Aayog’s Arnab Kumar.
• Debate about State Surveillance of Citizen

21. Technology Discourse
• Antibiotics DO NOT work against viruses,
antibiotics only work against bacteria.
• Thermal scanners CAN detect if people have a
fever but CANNOT detect whether or not
someone has the coronavirus.
• Online Learning and Work From Home
• Protection gears, disinfectants, sanitizers…….
• Mobile App to trace others around you

22. Surrounding Discourses
• Numbers as only indicator?
• Panic, Fear and Social mistrust!
• Economic Class as divisive factor:)
• Locking down people/Economy to save them
• Accountability of the State public health system
• Suffering of Daily wage earners/Migrants
• What about women, immunity, intelligence of
people to protect themselves?

23. Dev Com & Covid-19
• Uncertainty, Panic, Fear, Confusion……
• Medicalization of human body
• Emotional treatment to the messages
• Lack of trust on people and their ability to
solve their own problems
• Power and its use for pushing technology in
day to day life
• Dominant paradigm in action

24. References
• https://www.mygov.in/covid-19/
• https://www.comminit.com/
• https://scroll.in/article/957849/
• https://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Publishe
d/H-Series/houselist_main.html
• https://www.ipsos.com/en-in/
• https://www.who.int/publications-detail/

25. Thank you for your time &
Attention
Feel free to Connect:
drmiradesai@gmail.com
https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/
Subject- Media & Communication Studies
Paper- Development Communication