The challenge to continue post corona

The widely reported incidents of migrant labourers thronging out in herds, both at Bandra in Mumbai and in Surat, demanding that they be repatriated back to their respective home states, is indicative that the Prime Minister’s advice was not properly being implemented in prime places. Similar scenes were witnessed in Delhi, the National Capital Region, and many other cities, soon after initially, out of the blue, the lockdown was announced. However, despite the colossal hardships they encountered, the migrants, mostly hailing from Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, managed to reach their destinations.

As for in Mumbai and Surat, the labourers stayed on, believing that the lockdown would be lifted on 14 April; their panic peaked when the period of containment was extended. Many of them were going without food, with their employers declining to extend any assistance, despite repeated appeals by the Prime Minister and the state authorities.

It is but natural that these migrants were wishing to return to their villages, primarily because the administration at their current location, had failed to furnish them with bare necessities. Although state governments have been claiming, that there were round the clock services, to look after the daily needs of the homeless, the effort fell drastically short. Why else, would these hapless people, pour on to the streets, in a bid to rush home?
The plight of the migrants, who form the backbone of industries and agriculture, are telling-signs of how difficult life would be, once the Covid-19 battle, is more or less behind us. What is frightening to the common people, is the persisting fear of the pandemic growing worse, as well as how they would cope with the perennial ramifications of the total shutdown.

Without a shadow of doubt, life would not be the same, at least for some months, once the coronavirus era ends. Unemployment would rise beyond all projections, and the economy which is already in the doldrums, would need some extremely innovative measures to resuscitate. The growth-rate would be a cause of constant concern, as would be the GDP figures, if they were meticulously computed without statistic juggler.

In fact, the real challenge for the Centre and the states would be to maintain peace and calm in different parts of the country so as to ensure that lawlessness does not become the order of the day. The consequences of the epic fight against corona would have to be dealt with as social and political issues, as opposed to law and order problems, which the bureaucracy might seek to project them as. Thankfully, we have a Prime Minister, who can comprehend the gravity of the matter and is in a position to provide direct and clear-cut instructions to officers, as well as the political class.

The Opposition has so far been conducting itself in an extremely responsible manner; the non-BJP Chief Ministers made the most compelling appeals to the Prime Minister to extend the period of the lockdown. The Congress, the principal opponent, has rightly decided to back the Centre, while underlining the importance of a united front against this deadly disease. Sonia Gandhi’s request to Narendra Modi to put off the grand plans to redesign parts of Lutyens Delhi, in order to cut down expenditure, was also amongst suggestions that the government may genuinely act upon.

There are many discrepancies that immediately need to be taken care of, so that the chain of supplies does not get disrupted, but is augmented. Although on Monday, some relaxations are likely to be made, in certain earmarked areas, the government should at least permit the running of goods-trains to various locations. The Railways, from day one, has been shut down, and dispatching commodities via trucks is viably not workable. Truckers, in many places, have declined to lorry goods, fearing both the pandemic cum the treatment meted out to them by maverick policemen. The Centre should also run special trains, on allocated days, to ferry stranded migrants who want to return to their homeland. Buses, as known, can seat a limited number of people but trains facilitate mass movement.
The supply chain of basic essentials has to be protected, since it is a lifeline for the country, where a vast majority of people exist way below the poverty-line. This is also the hour to have a relook at the Public Distribution System, which is in various states, is in dire need of streamlining. There have been substantial reports that the financial help being offered to the poor was not reaching them due to bureaucratic procedures. For instance, the paltry sum of Rs 500 sent to the Jan Dhan accounts of the needy could not be withdrawn by many, since they have not operated their accounts for a considerable period of time. Bank officials have categorically told them that they would have to refurnish their identity-proof by resubmitting requisite documents. It is perplexing why there is not a waive-off of such superfluous formalities, keeping in view the emergency situation. The bureaucracy needs to adapt itself to an evolving scenario, freeing itself from its red-tapism.

Similarly, so far as exporters are concerned, they have a peculiar problem; their goods that were forwarded, before the lockdown, have reached their terminus, but the paperwork needed to get them released has not, since no courier services, such as DHL and Blue Dart, are working. The officials must take a leaf out of the Prime Minister’s pragmatic tome of a book. Between us.