India faces 5 uncertainties in COVID-19 outbreak, says ex-RBI governor Urjit Patel

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel has said India faces five levels of uncertainty due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"There are five sources of uncertainty: behaviour of the virus; timeline of an effective treatment; timeline for a safe and effective vaccine; government regulations and policies and behaviour of citizens," Patel said while speaking at HungerTalks: The 50 days that turned India.

HungerTalks is a series of webinar organised by YUVA, an NGO, which has invited experts from diverse fields to help in its efforts to raise funds for COVID-19 relief.

"In the three months of COVID crisis, between the central and the state government, there have been 4,000 orders," Patel added.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, who was among the speakers, said the pandemic had exposed vulnerability of the human race.

"The virus has brought home the vulnerability of the human race. The second thing it has shown us the oneness of mankind. Rich or poor, we have to find a common solution to this problem," Salve said.

The crisis was a big reminder for a society that had started becoming insular and conservative, he added.

The outbreak had also brought to fore the inadequacy of human knowledge in every field.

"The economist doesn't know how to deal with the problem; the politicians don't know what is a political solution to this; the scientist doesn't know where to go with this disease. It has given all of us a wake-up call," Salve said.