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Pandemic and the Administrative Rationality: Understanding the Administrative Response to the Pandemic

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The outbreak of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 or COVID 19 pandemic has literally dashed our enlightened scientific rationality. It has claimed more than six million lives around the globe. The struggling humanity has adopted a series of strict legal-administrative protocols like lockdown, quarantine, isolation, to contain the spread of the virus. However, the strict adherence to the above-mentioned protocols has brought several collateral damages like the disruption of normal socio-economic activities; suspension of political and civic engagements of the people. The situation gets further complicated as endless suggestions and opinions have been offered by several experts. The scientific community, till today, is grappling with the possible antidote of the virus in the form of vaccines. Several research laboratories across the globe have been actively engaged in devising full-proof vaccines of which, some have already started manufacturing commercially. Despite the tall claims of these companies, the efficacy of these vaccines is still not very clear. Moreover, the modality of administering these vaccines is another difficult issue, involving delicate distributive management that requires something more than mere scientific rationality. Further, given the nature of neoliberal governance, where delivery of services is a collective venture of all the stakeholders like state, civil society, market, and community, administrative rationality is perhaps the most important means. Drawing on the existing literature, the paper intends to explore the administrative responses to the pandemic of COVID-19 through the lens of administrative rationality. Finally, the paper with an optimistic note concludes that the administrative rationality of the bureaucracy has the potential to devise a bailout programme for all the stakeholders concerned.KeywordsEpidemicNeoliberal governanceStateCivil society
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