Reorientation of State Policies to Combat COVID-19: A Rapid Assessment of an India State Exerting Social Control Measures

The COVID-19 virus is highly contagious as it does not respect borders, societies or communities. Even with most of the world in lockdown and clinicians battling with support measures for those infected, the governments are borrowing combat measures from each other despite scores of uncertainties. However early or late stage a country is in as regards to the virus spread, the governments are desperately trying to arrest the crisis that is dynamic and ever evolving. As such there is very little to claim about the success or lack of it, of any measure as a preventive or curative one. With this at the backdrop, this paper intends to provide a rapid assessment of reorientation of Government policies and strategies to address the emergent health and non-health issues associated therewith. With lots of limitations and within the ever-changing scenario of COVID-19 calling for continuous changes in the adopted measures, the paper documents key themes and policy changes that the Government of an Indian State-Odisha, known widely for its track record of disaster preparedness and management, has adopted in a challenging and dynamic situation. It utilises known and select Governmental and institutional sources to offer insights into some core social, economic and political issues that social scientists and policy researchers will be interested in investigating further in the days to come.