“Anna Chinta Chamatkarah”. “Vubhukshitah Kim Na KarotiPapam”. Loosely translated, both these expressions in Sanskrit would mean ‘Ahungry stomach knows no bound’ and ‘A hungry person can commit any sin’.India’s working class, currently under a lockdown, seems to be trainingthemselves for a life-threatening battle with the authorities guided by theseage-old homilies. With no work, no money, no food and no transport to claw backto one’s birth place, they are being forced to make a big sacrifice for therest. It is time we decoded the compulsions to relax the already battlingeconomy with a host of factors, some of them man-made and a few more like theCOVID-19 pandemic which has been released by a distraught nature on mankind.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to close theshutters may be recorded as a headline in the future history books of ournation. But it also runs the risk of being reduced to a footnote if urgentsteps are not taken to relax the lock down and allow the sweating masses toearn their livelihood as they face a Catch-22 situation. It must be noted thatthe freedom to work from home cannot include a farmer, a petty trader, themathadi workers in the APMCs across the nation, the newspaper vendors, dailywage workers in cities, auto and taxi drivers, the ubiquitous push cart vendors supplying items of dailyneeds including ready-to-eat snacks and finally the construction workersbuilding houses which they can never dream to call their homes any time soonbut considerably contributing to the gross national product of our nation. Thereare signals that the lockdown may be extended by two more weeks, especiallywhen some State satraps who had earlier warned the violators of lockdown withshoot-at-sight orders having now upped the ante with a ‘save lives now, cansave economy later’ prescription. Really? Where were the concern for lives whenthe police in India’s most populous State played holi with a mass of fleeingworkers not with traditional colours and pichkaris but with disinfectants andwater-jets?
India’s ‘patient zero’ consisted of about fifteen lakhforeign returnees who came back to India from abroad during the 45 days periodpreceding the lockdown. In accordance with the WHO prescription, our success incontrolling the spread was dependent on tracing, testing and treating this humongousgroup of citizens. It was assumed the authorities would use this 21-daylockdown corridor to reasonably satisfy themselves that none of these returneesbecame the transmitters. However, the present picture does not seem to be asatisfying one. Given the limited number of testing kits at our disposal andthe difficulty in acquiring more from abroad, can we reasonably expect thistask to get over with a fortnight’s extension of lockdown? Besides, when thelockdown is national, every State is following its own protocol in tracking,detecting and isolating these suspected carriers. Some States are not evenpublicising the district-wise position thereby keeping the public underconstant fear of the dreaded virus. As we delay in our effort to ‘test, test andtest’, the second stage of the pandemic is now morphing into Stage 3.Transparency demands that the authorities lay bare the facts and figures beforethe nation to seek justification for any extension of the lockdown, if that isthe thinking now.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to take the currentand past leaders into confidence on the future course of action to face thiscryptic virus, anyway, has proved his statesmanship and his desire for adoptinga consultative approach. There is no doubt that the social and economic impactof the shutdown, presently in operation, is going to be many times more thanany event in living memory. But then when the nation continues its war with theinvisible enemy, strategy demands that we do not force a battle with ourvisible family members and friends. The Nation, by taking away the livelihoodof nearly 130 million of its working class populace, is effectively creating afamine-like situation for these less fortunate souls.
We do not have the benefit of hind sight and history. Ourwar rooms have no manual or blue books to guide us in this war. Only ourcombined strength and grit can help sustain the war against the invisibleenemy. In this uncharted journey, we cannot afford to belittle anybody’sself-respect and the will and right to live. Yes, we are dealing with so manyunknowns at a time. Our scientists and researchers are under immense pressureto find or stumble upon a solution. Till that happens, let us not create awedge in our society by barring our own countrymen from survival by denying theright to engage their hands which keep all of us ticking and alive. If we failto rescue them from this existential crisis, we would be converting our ownpeople into Rohingyas in their own land.
The world is not going to be the same after lockdown. Therewill be new structures, processes, disciplines and new manuals for industry. Wehave to learn to continue our daily occupation with social distancing at itscore. All non-essential commuting can be suspended. Trains can start with halfthe load. Shops can open with lesser service staff. Units can reconfigure toproduce with denuded strength. White collar workers must continue to work fromhome for some more time. Equipment can be redesigned to reflect the new work ethosand procedures. To support all these innovative processes, the regular salaryearners including the pensioners paying income tax, must voluntarily comeforward to take a haircut till the economy is restored to its pre-pandemicposition. There are thus umpteen possibilities. We can keep the human beingsunder a lockdown. But we must take care to ensure that humanity is not lockedout.
(The writer is a former Chief General Manager of the Reserve Bank of India). (Views are personal).
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