Public perceptions regarding the preparedness of government to combat 3rd wave of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection across various states of India.

India has already passed through two waves of the covid-19 pandemic losing many lives. The reason for losing lives may be due to the unpreparedness of the health care system of India for this unprecedented pandemic. To assess the government's preparedness an Institutional based cross-sectional prospective survey was conducted among the adult population of selected states in India. A self-administered questionnaire having 30-item divided into five sections (demography of the participants, step to create awareness, prevent spread of infection, handle the emergency and prognosis) was distributed online through google survey. The responses were collected in an excel file. SPSS software was used to perform the descriptive statistics and ANOVA. Nearly a quarter of the participants strongly disagree/disagree about the government's preparedness for the 3 rd wave. Considering their perception it cannot be assured that government is well prepared to handle the emergency. So the government has to maintain emergency fund and develop health infrastructure. Government should take steps to reduce social stigma, prevent spreading of unscientific propagation and make people aware of WHO as the reliable source of information for health emergencies to avoid a human crisis in the future.