The self-reliance myth

It is not just that we all, in our personal lives, have rediscovered to our dismay that dependence on too many other people leaves us exposed during crises

Speaking to a group of panchayat leaders on Panchayati Raj Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told them that the big lesson of the pandemic was that India needs to “be self-sufficient and not depend on others for anything we need in our daily lives”. On one level, that may be true, and we are all learning some lessons during this lockdown about how we are unprepared for long periods of isolation. Yet, on a more general level, this is a dangerous lesson to take away — albeit one that other people besides the PM seem to have taken to heart.

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