On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, The Australian National University’s Assa Doron and Azad Singh Bali join Sharon Bessell to examine the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India and the key lessons policymakers must learn so the country isn’t rocked by further waves of the virus.How did the COVID-19 crisis in India get so out of control? And what can policymakers in the country and around the region learn from the responses so far to ensure this isn’t followed by further waves of infections? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Professor Assa Doron and Dr Azad Singh Bali join Professor Sharon Bessell to chart the country’s responses since the beginning of the pandemic, examine what role religious and other divisions have played in inhibiting an effective response, and what policymakers must learn from this awful situation to ensure it doesn’t repeat in the coming months.Assa Doron is Professor of Anthropology at the College of Asia and the Pacific's School of Culture, History, and Language at The Australian National University.Azad Singh Bali is Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and holds a joint appointment at Crawford School of Public Policy and ANU School of Politics and International Relations.Sharon Bessell is Professor of Public Policy and Director of Gender Equity and Diversity at Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU.Policy Forum Pod is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Subscribe on Android or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.