When the Prime minister announced on March 20 that the citizens of our country will observe a nationwide “Janata Curfew” to break the chain of Covid-19, people accepted and observed the call. As the days passed there was a brief respite of 3 days for the country before the 1st lockdown that was to start on the March 26. In contrast the people of Goa did not have a reprieve before the nationwide lockdown enveloped us. Quarantined at home I have been reflecting on many an issue and trying to figure out where we in our state of Goa are heading too? Where are we as a country moving towards? The country is currently categorised in various zones of red, orange and green. Make no mistake what is green could overnight turn red and what is bloody red could overnight turn green. If any of the states in the country can boast of having flattened the curve of the Covid pandemic it is the Communist ruled state of Kerala. The national record pales into insignificance when compared to the achievement of the government of Kerala and its people in fighting the pandemic.
The national lockdown suspended the livelihoods of millions of people and continues to do so wrecking the economy to the marrow of its bones. The economic downslide is on an epic scale. The question is – what was the state of the economy in the country before the lockdown? Unemployment was at its peak and the challenge of job creation was daunting even before the Covid pandemic. Price rise was a scourge faced by the browbeaten downtrodden. The index of production in industries was at its lowest. The tranche of non-performing assets (NPA) had ballooned to more than Rs 60 lakh crores. Five year plans for the country had been scrapped and substituted with Nithi Ayog. The fiduciary independence of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in taking independent decisions has been whittled down. Public sector companies have been handed over to foreign direct investment and capitalist monopoly houses like the Adanis and Ambanis. People of the country are beginning to question the wisdom of extending the lockdown in the present form which has been causing hardship to millions of people. Even after more than 7 decades of independence the number of people who die of hunger and starvation in India everyday far exceeds the total number of people dead from Covid in the country.
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We know that the world is not going to come to an end, but the world as we might know it might. All that was indispensable has become dispensable. Humankind which was in high gear acceleration suddenly braked and stopped with a thud. Covid-19 has decisively altered the structure of several institutions namely – social life, social relations, economic and political rights, religion and its practice, labour and management relations, family life etc. The pandemic has thrown up new issues for the judiciary, politicians, intellectuals and many a high flying icons. Covid has demolished them all to the ground and revealed the compassionate unknown and anonymous faces of people who have emerged on the scene to give succor to people in need.
Grassroot institutions like panchayats have shown their relevance by coming to the aid of people in distress. Families have come closer. Schools have been replaced by home learning. Exams have been trivialized and found unnecessary. While money has poured into the coffers of the Prime Minister’s and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, the government at the Centre and our own State government have been tight fisted in sharing its resources with the poor and needy. While the business houses are being pampered with all kinds of concessions, there is no one to wipe the tears of those who go to sleep hungry.
A study needs to be done of what has been the impact of Covid-19 on family life, its impact on children, parents, adults, the aged and women. An authentic research will benefit us with very instructive revelations. Covid-19 has exposed that finally the emperor is bereft of his clothes. It has also bared the huge gap between promises and practices, rhetoric and performance. It has shown us the bankruptcy and the weakness of our present day economic and political systems. There has not been a word whispered on how the jobs of workers in employment being retrenched due to shut downs, closures of companies and establishments will be saved. Instead of working out a clear cut programme to protect the jobs of workers and create massive employment for people in the country, the government at the centre is busy enacting laws snatching away the rights of the working class and in favour of the business class. On one hand the number of working hours have increased and on the other the social security net which is the hallmark of good governance has been relegated to the dumps. The Indian working class is sought to be pushed back into the pre-industrial era. Taking shelter under the umbrella of Covid-19 pandemic, every day the government is taking one decision after another which is not in the interest of the working class or its citizens in general.
According to the International Tourism Organisation, tourism could shrink by a whopping 60-80% in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic placing millions of livelihoods at risk and threatening to roll back progress made in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili of the UNWTO has said, “The world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis. Tourism has been hit hard, with millions of jobs at risk in one of the worst labour intensive sectors of the economy”. Presently tourism is the major economic activity in Goa with a wide ranging impact on economic growth, employment and social development. . The current Covid-19 pandemic has hit a double blow.
The present season has not just been wiped out, but the uncertainty has extended to the next season too. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said that Goa has emerged as the state with the highest number of unemployed persons. It was also observed by them that our state government does not maintain any proper data or records on its status of unemployed people. Goa’s economy hit a rough patch with the closure of mining bringing the entire state to a grinding halt with lakhs of people directly/indirectly connected to this industry. There are thousands of seafarers working abroad who are attempting to return home. Besides, there are Goans in the UK, USA, Germany, Italy, France and in the Gulf countries who are waiting to come back. What would be the scenario if large chunks of Goans returned? Across the world people are isolating themselves, stepping out only when needed. Nature they say has hit the reset button to correct damage we have caused her and the human race over the centuries. Corona has challenged communities and nations that only when they stand as one united entity it will say goodbye to us.
(The writer is a Social Scientist and practicing Criminal Lawyer).
