Covid-19 tests should be made free for all in India

I was horrified to read the report that the Indian Railways was thinking of charging the migratory labourers who were planning to return to their homes via the special trains. These labourers have been in temporary shelters in various cities for around four to six weeks, during the lockdown. Many of them would have run out of their limited savings. They would have had to borrow money to buy a railway ticket. This is the time to show compassion, and the Bharatiya Janata Party government has rightly announced a subsidised fare for them. The railways should also provide free meals on the journey. This is the least the government should do at such a stressful time.
Covid-19 is proving to be a perilous disease. It is important to test as many people as possible, in every country. Cities with slums and congested localities, like Mumbai, Delhi, etc. should aim for 100 per cent testing.
Testing for Covid-19 should be made free in all states. Governments need to contain this disease in the national interest. Thus testing costs should be borne 100 per cent by the governments. The debate as to how much private hospitals should charge is infructuous at this stage. People should not avoid the test, just because they do not have money. Many daily wage earners and migrant labourers are short of money due to lack of work under the lockdown. Governments should foot the entire Covid-19 bill to control the disease.
Even after the vaccine is discovered, it will be a challenge to produce enough doses, to ensure every citizen in the world is inoculated. This will require robust global logistics. This exercise could take 18 to 24 months. So even after the lockdowns are eased, the fear of Covid-19 will stay with us, until the vaccine is discovered and every citizen in the world is inoculated. An unknown, invisible virus has frozen our world. This is a humbling time for mankind globally. However, failure is not an option. -Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai