Whatexactly was it that prompted Prime Minister Modi to give just a four-hournotice for the lockdown? If the requirement was to keep the population indoors,strictly enforcing “social distancing” – how unfamiliar the word had seemedwhen it was first mentioned in his lock-out release. Abjectly it failed lakhsof Indians, mostly young daily wagers, jostling to get away from their work tohomes, hundreds of kilometres away, walking and sleeping in heat and in rains,in the wide-open on the deserted road surfaces, the road their bed and the skyabove their roof. In broad daylight and in the darkness of the nights, veryoften dong the only thing they just then knew or cared for, finding their wayhomes. At least one died after the 200 km mark, the other, a daring butfrustrated youth opted to break the orthopaedic cast on his leg, a burden whichhe cast away at the risk of jeopardising his recovery, just then a needlessburden, an extra weight to carry. There was not much money on the overwhelmingmajority of these mostly young Indians, their only goal, to reach home howeveruninviting a prospect to the city-bred. The main reason for their having littlemoney on them was the timing chosen by Mr. Modi to enforce his writ. TheLakshman Rekha, a four-hour gap between the announcement of the lockdown andits enforcement didn’t give them the opportunity to collect their dues fromtheir employers. The highest priority obviously was to somehow leave theirplaces of work before day-break. The other priority was to escape the localpolice before it spread its net on the highways. One of the earliest few diedbefore arriving at their home base. That’s the death that was noticed. Quitelikely, someone of the other who might have not made it. It could have beenhandled better, the flight by lakhs of young daily wagers, the largest manuallyinduced peace time distress migration in independent India, Modi had notindicated the severity of the top-down nationwide lockdown in his telecast onlya couple of days earlier. There was no mention of dislocation on such a massivescale not indicated any relief measures for the daily wagers, in fact, Mr. Modiwas silent on the issue of the necessary relief measures. Uncertainty about thefuture of the lakhs who set out, migrating from workplaces in distant states tothe elusive security of their homes, of which they were the breadwinners. Thereturn to unemployment in confusion and insecurity left millions of daily wageearners virtually in suspended animation; it was bound to fail. With doomsdaypredictions, no work and no guarantee from the government, the migrant laborersbasically sought the security of their distant homes. They had no option but totravel any way they could, including, as they literally did, on foot to gohome. It didn’t do my ego, my Indianness any good to see foreign TV networksincluding CNN and BBC, recording the painful trudge home of thousands oflaborers, all of their young dreams in their eyes melting away for good. One ofthe networks shared how homebound youths from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh spending their time snoozing on low lying branches of big roadsidetrees. Tired and exhausted, starvation writ large on their withering youngfaces, thin worldly possessions reduced to manageable overhead packs. Aheart-breaking story, yet one which must cause fresh thinking among thepolitical establishment, Mr. Modi, his BJP and all other political partiesincluded. There is an urgent need to go beyond personality and charm offenses.Both the government and the opposition need to move beyond “Modiji did this”,”only Modiji could do this”; instead this arena of deliberation needssystematic expansion. Before the government and the opposition, between thecentre and the states, between experts and the administration and even betweenthe union and the state administrations. Unless this is done no amount ofgrandstanding and no number of disaster management laws can help usdemocratically address situations of crisis. We must also avoid the knee-jerkreaction of creating “funds”. “The PM cares” fund announcement five days agoseverely harks of petty one-upmanship. Prime Ministers are expected to care andthat is why he is elected to that chair. Since the current crisis is a publichealth crisis, the politics around it should be about how much we spend onpublic health through regular budgets. The issue is pulling money into buildinglong-term and broad range testing facilities across the country.
Toconclude, for the present, the massive exodus of casual labour from the metrosthat is being witnessed across the country is now beginning to lead to labourshortages, not only in the transportation sector but across the supply chain.These labour shortages will lead to disruption not only in the production ofessential goods but in the supply of essential and non-essential items as well.At the moment it looks unlikely to return to normal immediately after thelockdown is lifted.
Thereare reports already of erratic supplies of food and essentials causing panicand confusion in Goa, for instance. It is imperative for the government to formulateprotocols to enable facilities to start production as soon as possible, and forensuring the uninterrupted supply of essential goods.
Toconclude on a somewhat different note, it is not adequate consolation thatIndia is not alone in experiencing this eerier quiet characterized by itscurrent lockdown – the lockdown of the idea of public domain.