‘There is more need than ever to rebuild in a just and resilient manner’ – 30 quotes from India’s COVID-19 struggle
In this compilation, we present thought-provoking quotes from the week of January 25-31 that frame India’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic.
Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week. This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle (see last week’s post here). Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.
With the COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out, and other structured and effective measures in place to combat coronavirus, there is no doubt that 2021 is going to be a milestone year for the healthcare industry. - Shekhar Rawtani, Prescrip
Today, technology breakthroughs are driving mass vaccination programmes, workforce transformation, and flexibility. - Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup
During the peak of the pandemic, hospitals across the globe saw heaps of single-use gloves and gowns, pronouncing the pandemic’s impact on healthcare’s carbon footprint. - Shashank ND, Practo Technologies
With the pandemic forcing a monumental shift in priorities, it is important to make clear financial provisions for the digitisation of Indian health systems, as well as breaking its silos. - Kamal Narayan Omer, IHW Council
Out-of-school adolescents are a group which is vulnerable to under-nutrition amid the pandemic. - Mini Varghese, Nutrition International
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the uncompromising need for healthcare infrastructure. - TV Mohandas Pai and Nisha Holla
While the vaccine rollout has strengthened traveller confidence and demand and search queries for travel are slowly climbing, certain provisions by the government can help bolster the industry back to pre-COVID-19 levels sooner. - Rajnish Kumar, ixigo
In the new normal, the Indian millennial traveller would play a critical role in the recovery of the region. - Kamesh Shukla, RateGain
Last year was difficult for the travel sector. It's only now that we are starting to see some green shoots. - Prashant Kumar, zingbus
The edtech sector has always had a promising future, but COVID-19 accelerated its pace in India. - Ajay Sakhamuri, MyClassboard
The pandemic has created a focus towards the importance and continuance of Education. Hybrid is the way forward and maybe well-thought-out as the best way forward. - Aditya Gupta, India Didactics Association
The pandemic disrupted the entire education segment, especially in the Tier-II and III cities, hence the government needs to give attention to the smaller towns of the country. - Amit Agarwal, OckyPocky
The pandemic has shown the transformative power of edtech. The edtech industry will need higher digital infrastructure and robust knowledge protection framework to build on the in-roads it has already made in COVID-19 times. - Divya Lal, Fliplearn
As classroom education has undergone a complete change due to the emergence of COVID-19, we expect that the government will put more focus on online education in Tier II and III cities. - Aakash Chaudhry, AESL
The unprecedented pandemic, and the economic fallout of the global response in attempting to limit the spread, has forced governments to push towards resilience rather than unabated growth. - Aishwarya Raman, Ola Mobility Institute
Resilience, recovery, and resurgence are typically how a startup also demonstrates its skills, its capability to take on the world, and emerge successful. - Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister
The pandemic has given a big push to technology enablement and 2020 stimulated digital transformation and innovations in several sectors. – Padmaja Ruparel, IAN Fund
The economy is currently in a rebuild mode, and hence, sectoral incentives play a pivotal role as they allow MSMEs to recover. - Alok Mittal, Indifi Technologies
2020 demonstrated that technology is the differentiator between simply surviving and actually thriving. - Ravi Chhabria, NetApp India
COVID-19 made everyone realise that going online is the way to move forward and survive. - MI Siddiqui, COSMUS
Some themes are continuing from previous years but are still relevant, while others have seen tailwinds from the accelerated digitisation post-COVID-19. - Vikram Vaidyanathan, Matrix Partners India
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the landscape of construction in India. The pandemic’s impact is likely to be felt in terms of the pricing of construction projects. - Sanchit Gaurav, Housejoy
COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns in our cities have emptied the once-bustling central business districts. - Jaya Dhindaw and Pavan Ankinapalli, WRI India
By unleashing behavioural changes among people vis-a-vis public transport, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a major boost to global bicycle demand. - Pankaj Munjal, HMC
The festive season has shown signs of recovery with major retailers recuperating around 90 percent of pre-COVID-19 sales. But the recovery is still nascent and not strong enough to carry on without support. - Pronam Chatterjee, BluePi Consulting
Agritech has been instrumental in helping India manage disruptions caused by the management of COVID-19. - Jinesh Shah, Omnivore
Pre-COVID D2C was a small placeholder. But, during the lockdown, it was the main channel. - Meghana Narayan, Slurrp Farm
Since COVID-19, consumers show a rising consciousness towards climate change, sustainable transportation, and circular economy. - Rohit Kumar, Customized Energy Solutions
Conscious consumerism is going to be a staple in consumer preferences now. - Harley Finkelstein, Shopify
Normalcy has been forced upon us in pandemic times. We’ve been compelled to behave consciously. - Sadhguru
A post-COVID-19 budget is a historic opportunity for India to take the lead on climate change. - Anshuman Bapna, Terra.do
As India looks to recover from the economic and social impacts of COVID-19, there is more need than ever to rebuild in a just and resilient manner. - Ruchika Singh, WRI India
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).
Edited by Suman Singh