FIGHT OF COVID - VIEW FROM A COMMONER

THE SITUATION IS GRIM AND A VIRUS HAS TAKEN US ALL INTO A SITUATION THAT WE ALL WANT TO GET OUT OF, BUT ARE ANXIOUS, RELUCTANT AND UNABLE TO DO SO. AS A COUNTRY WE MAY HAVE DONE WELL AS THE WORLD IS PRAISING US, BUT BEING A COUNTRY OF 130 CRORE PEOPLE WITH VARIOUS CHALLENGES AND UNIQUE IN MANY WAYS, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN UNIQUE WAYS AND METHODS NEEDED TO BE ADOPTED. NOW THAT MORE THAN  50 DAYS HAVE PASSED IT IS APPROPRIATE TO ASSESS WHAT WE HAVE DONE RIGHT AND WHERE WE HAVE GONE WRONG, HOW IT HAS IMPACTED US AND IN WHAT BETTER WAY WE COULD HAVE FOUGHT IT TO AVOID MANY CHALLENGES.

FARCE OF SCREENINGS AT THE AIRPORT –

I CALL IT FARCE BECAUSE IT IS A FARCE AS AT MANY AIRPORTS PEOPLE WERE ASKED TO FILL FORMS ABOUT FROM WHERE THEY ARE COMING AND MERELY THERE TEMPRATURES WERE CHECKED AND IF ANYBODY DIDN’T HAVE FEVER THEY WERE LEFT ALONE THERE WAS NO TRACKING OF THEM . MY EX BOSS (IM UNEMPLOYED NOW) CAME FROM ITALY (MILAN) ON 4^TH MARCH VIA DUBAI; HE WAS NOT EVEN SCREENED AT THE AIRPORT AS HE MUST HAVE MENTIONED COMING FROM DUBAI. WE STOPPED FLIGHTS FROM CHINA AND ADVISED PEOPLE TRAVELLING TO CHINA BUT THE SCREENING PROCESS WAS FARCE, MAY WE CAN GIVE BENEFIT OF DOUBT TO GOVERNMENT AS LIKE MANY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES OUR GOVERNMENT ALSO MAY HAVE DOWNPLAYED THE THREAT INITIALLY, SO VIRUS WAS LET IN VIA THE TRAVELLERS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD.INSTEAD OF SCREENING IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE ALL COMING IN TO BE TESTED AND RECOVER THE COST OF IT FROM THEM,AND INSTEAD OF SENDING THEM UNTRACED THEY SHOULD BE ORDEDRED TO HOME QUARANTINED AND MONITORED STRICTLY.   

THE JANTA CURFEW AND PARLIAMENT FUNCTIONING MEANS LOCKDOWN DELAY –

THERE IS NOT DENYING THIS THAT BY 15^TH MARCH MOST STATES HAVE STARTED TAKING ACTIONS , THOUGH PM REQUESTED TO AVOID GATHERINGS OF HOLI MILAN ETC. EARLIER AS WELL,  IT WAS A REQUEST ONLY AND NO BAN WAS IMPOSED ON SUCH EVENTS. IN THE PAST WE HAVE SEEN GOVERNMENTS BAN MANY THINGS WITHOUT THINKING MUCH, BUT A LOT OF DELIBERATIONS WERE MADE BEFORE THE JANTA CURFEW WAS ANNOUNCED 4 DAYS, IN ADVANCE BY THAT TIME MANY STATE GOVERNMENTS HAVE TAKEN ACTION LIKE CLOSING UP SCHOOLS , PUBLIC TRANSPORT, CINEMA HALLS. AND NOBODY CAN DENY THAT FOR MP GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER AND FORMATION OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT, THE LOCKDOWN WAS DELAYED, IT COULD HAVE STARTED ON THE SAMEDAY OF JANTA CURFEW, AND INSTEAD ANOTHER FOUR DAYS WERE TAKEN. YES WE LOCKED DOWN EARLY BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN EARLIER THAN THAT ALSO.

HELPING THOSE WHO DON’T NEED HELP – PM GARIB KALYAN – LOCKDOWN IMPLEMENTED HENCE IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HELP WHO WERE BADLY AFFECTED. IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE MIGRANT WORKER OR DAILY WAGE LABOURER IN A METRO CITY WILL BE AFFECTED MORE, THAN SAY A DAILY WAGE LABOURER IN RURAL AREA SIMPLY BECAUSE COST OF LIVING IN A METRO OR URBAN CENTRE IS QUITE HIGH AS COMPARED TO RURAL AREAS.

LETS SEE DATA AND ANALYSE –

JANDHAN ACCOUNTS ARE MORE OF RURAL PHENOMENON, BELOW IS THE TABLE OF NO OF JANDHAN ACCOUNTS , RS. 500 WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE WOMEN ACCOUNT HOLDER WHOSE COUNT GIVEN WAS ROUGHLY  20 CRORES, MOST OF THESE ACCOUNTS ARE RURAL AND ARE OF LITTLE HELP TO URBAN POOR , PEOPLE CAN ARGUE THAT THESE CAN BE OF THEIR RELATIVES (MOTHER, WIFE ETC. ), YES IT CAN SUSTAIN THEM FOR 21 DAYS FOR SURE HENCE THERE WAS NOT MASS EXODUS IN THE FIRST LOCKDOWN.

State	Rural / Semi Urban	Urban / Metro	Total	Balance in Crores	Avg Bal
Maharashtra	13240259	13605663	26845922	8463.64	3152.67
Bihar	28092863	16045975	44138838	13698.95	3103.60
Delhi	288895	4231379	4520274	2086.69	4616.29

 (SOURCE-PMJDY WEBSITE)

SAME GOES FOR WIDOW, DIVYANG AND ELDERLY PENSIONS FOR WHICH RURAL AND URBAN DATA I CANNOT FIND BUT WITH MY KNOWLEDGE I HAVE NOT HEARD IT IN MUMBAI THOUGH I HAVE HEARD SOME PEOPLE GETTING IN DELHI, BUT THAT ALSO IS MAINLY IN RURAL AREAS, OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHER STATES. NOW COME TO PF PAYMENTS, THE CONDITIONS WAS SUCH THAT PF CONTRIBUTION OF THE EMPLOYEES OF SALARIES LESSS THAN 15000 WILL BE PAID BY GOVERNMENT, BUT THEY ARE FROM ORGANISED SECTOR IF THEY HAVE PF ACCOUNTS, THEY CAN SUSTAIN THEMSELVES WITH THEIR SALARY AS WELL EVEN IF THEY CANNOT GET THAT EXTRA AMOUNT PROVIDED THEY GET THERE SALARY ONLY, BUT IT HAS BEEN OBSERVED THAT FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL MANY SUCH PEOPLE HAVE NOT GOT FULL SALARY, SOME ARE PAID HALF AND SOME ARE UNPAID HENCE THEY WILL BE IN DISTRESS AS THEY DO NOT HAVE STRONG SAVINGS BACK UP. YES, PF ADVANCE WILL HELP SOME, BUT THAT WILL BE AGAIN FOR ORGANISED SECTOR,AGAIN IF THEY HAVE PF , THEY DON’T NEED TO TAKE ADVANCE IF THEY ARE PAID THERE SALARIES, STILL IT HAS SEEN MASS WITHDRAWAL MEANS EMPLOYEES WERE NOT PAID HENCE THERE WAS A NEED TO WITHDRAW.  THE FOOD DISTRIBUTION IS AGAIN CENTRIC TO RURAL INDIA AS IN METRO CITIES AND URBAN AREAS FOOD DISTRIBUTION ON RATION CARDS IS ALMOST NEGLIGIBLE,MANY LIVING IN THESE ARE ON RENT HENCE DON’T HAVE RATION CARDS. BELOW IS THE DATA OF MUMBAI RATION CARDS, ENTIRE MUMBAI CITY HAS ONLY 12 LAC RATION CARDS, I AM SURE MANY OF THEM HAVE SHIFTED OUT OF MUMBAI TO VARIOUS PARTS OF MMR AS MANY SRA PROJECTS ARE CURRENTLY IN OPERATION, THEY HAVE BEEN EITHER LEFT OUT OR HAVE STOPPED TAKING RATION FROM THESE SHOPS, SO THEY ARE LEFT OUT AND MIGRANT POPULATION IS LEFT OUT AS WELL. I DON’T HAVE TO SAY ABOUT KISAN SAMMAN BENEFICIARIES THAT THEY COME FROM RURAL AREAS AS IT IS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT FARMERS COME FROM RURAL PARTS.

No of ration Cards	Beneficaries	District
160847	739140	Mumbai
1046129	4735546	Mumbai Suburban
1206976	5474686	Total

 (SOURCE-MAHAFOOD WEBSITE)

SO IN TOTALITY THERE WAS NOTHING THAT CAN SUPPORT THE URBAN POOR, YES RURAL INDIA GOT BENEFITS BUT YOU SAW EXODUS FROM METRO CITIES MAINLY AFTER LOCKDOWN 1 SIMPLY BECAUSE-

1)      URBAN POOR DON’T WANT TO STAND IN QUEUS TO GET A PLATE OF FOOD, HE HAS SOME SELF RESPECT, INSTEAD AFTER EXHAUSTING ALL THAT HE HAD HE STARTED WALKING TOWARDS RURAL INDIA WHERE HE IS ASSURED THAT HE WILL GET FOOD, AND IF HE REMAINS HUNGRY HE WILL BE WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE.

2)      IN MANY PLACES FACTORIES/CONTRACTORS INITIALLY TOOK CARE OF THEIR LABOURS BY FEEDING THEM, BUT AS THE NUMBER OF INFECTIONS GREW THEY BECAME WORRIED AND POST LOCKDOWN WITH NO FORSEEABLE INCOME MANY HAVE ABANDONED THEM RESULTING PEOPLE COMING ON ROADS AND STARTING A WALK BACK.

3)      CASES IN METROS, URBAN CITIES HAVE RISEN DRASTICALLY WHICH HAVE RESULTED IN FEAR CREEPING IN MINDS OF MANY, EVEN THOSE WHO COULD HAVE AFFORD TO STAY MORE(BIKE OWNERS,CAR OWNERS,TEMPO OR AUTO DRIVERS) RESORTED TO RETURNING TO RURAL INDIA AS LIVING IN CRAMPED ROOM THEY FEARED OF GETTING THE VIRUS.

4)      PEOPLE EARNING BETWEEN 15000 TO 30000 PER MONTH ARE NOW GETTING ANXIOUS, COST OF LIVING WITH RENT, PRICE OF FOOD, ELECTRICITY,WATER BILLS ETC. IN METROS WITHOUT ANY INCOME IS  NOT SUSTAINABLE HENCE WHO CAN GO TOWARDS RURAL PARTS HAVE STARTED TO MOVE AS WELL.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY, INSTEAD OF A PACKAGE FOR ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, STATES SHOULD HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED AND TOLD TO REACH THE WORST AFFECTED MIGRANT POPULATION FIRST, WITH ALL THE MACHINERY THAT IT HAD, EVERYBODY KNOWS WHERE THE POOR LIVE IN METRO OR URBAN CITIES, THOSE AREAS IN ALL SUCH URBAN CENTRES SHOULD HAVE BEEN TARGETED. INSTEAD OF KISAN SAMMAN, URBAN POOR COULD HAVE HELPED WITH DATA AVAILABLE ON GAS CONNECTIONS, PEOPLE LIVING ON RENT ALSO HAVE GAS CONNECTION AND AVAIL SUBSIDY, THERE DATA COULD HAVE BEEN UTILISED TO SUPPORT MANY IN URBAN AREAS.

INSTEAD OF MAKING DATA OF PEOPLE WANTING TO RETURN TO THEIR NATIVE PLACES , GOVERNMENTS SHOULD HAVE ASKED OR COLLATED DATA OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS AND POST VERIFICATION SHOULD HAVE SUPPORTED THEM THEN THE MASS EXODUS COULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED. THIS NOT ONLY COULD HAVE REDUCED THEIR PLIGHT BUT ALSO HALTED THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS AS PEOPLE MIGRTING ARE UNKNOWINGLY TAKING THE VIRUS WITH THEM TO THEIR VILLAGES AND GOD KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE SPREAD IS IN THE RURAL INDIA.

ALSO A POINT HERE TO ADD THAT MANY STATE GOVERNMENTS SEE MIGRANTS AS A BURDEN AS THEY FEEL THAT THEY TAKE OUT RESOURCES FROM THEIR STATE AND TRANSFER IT TO HOME STATE AND STATES LIKE UP AND BIHAR WHERE PEOPLE RETURN JUST TO CAST THEIR VOTES DURING ELECTIONS THERE HELP IN BUILDING THAT IMAGE OF THERES IN NATIVE RESIDENTS AND POLITICIANS IRRESPCTIVE OF THEIR PARTY AFFILIATIONS.

(DISCLAIMER- I VOTED FOR THIS GOVERNMENT IN BOTH 2014 AND 2019 ELECTIONS, AND EVEN IN MAHARASHTRA VOTED FOR THE SAME PARTY WHICH WAS IN POWER SO I AM NOT A LIBERAL OF ANTI INDIA BUT I AM NOT A BHAKT AS WELL.)