In a statement issued on Tuesday (March 24) the Coalition for Environmental Justice in India (CEJI) said that the COVID-19 outbreak demands an immediate and comprehensive response if we are to limit and arrest its devastating impacts on the lives and livelihoods of crores of people.

The statement appealed to the people that, while as a nation we must come together to tackle the pandemic and save lives and we must do this with deep humanism. It argued that this can only be possible if it is ensured that steps taken do not accentuate the struggles and suffering of poor and working classes, natural resource dependent communities, and domestic workers and daily wagers, small and marginal traders, who constitute a majority of India’s population.  

The statement also recommended a series of methods and steps for different domains of the government and civil society to be followed, in order to minimize consequences while dealing with the outbreak in a coherent manner.

Read the full statement