Lockdowns are a luxury of the rich. Poverty is the real pandemic

As we look to emerge for a prolonged period of lockdown or “curfew: as it is called in Goa, we need to see the devastating effect of the real lockdown- the lockdown of small businesses, start-ups, jobs connected to businesses, the decline in job stability. The painful truth is that lockdowns have not just hit the migrant workers and workers in shacks and restaurants. Middle-class Goans out of the government sector have struggled to manage, with their small savings and family infrastructure managing to keep them afloat. The biggest fallout of this that many Goans are now living for the moment having used up their savings and rainy-day plans decades earlier than they would have imagined.

LOSS OF JOBS, SMALL BUSINESSES SHUT DOWN AND POOR SPENDING POWER = No money to earn, no money to spend

The crippling economic shutdown in families has begun in many middle and lower-middle-income groups. But you will seldom hear this in conversations even within extended families, leave alone friends.

Moreover, during tough-times, most wouldn’t even think of asking for help or any favours. A small incident at the market that came to light recently, clearly drives home this point.  A lady wanted to buy mangoes and walked up to the fruit seller. She picked the mangoes and when she was quoted the price and showed her hesitancy, another gentleman nearby quietly signalled to the fruit seller to give it at her price and he would cover the rest. The lady took the mangoes and while walking away realised what may have happened. She turned back and returned the mangoes and said she could accept such favours.

THE RICH LOCKED THEMSELVES UP IN THEIR LUXURY COCOONS

The wealthy welcomed the lockdown because there was no lockdown on their process of garnering wealth and returns on their existing wealth did not stop. Established businesses could manage even with stop-start operations. Employees’ salaries could be maintained up to a point and there were lower attrition levels. But even there the casualties were the temporary workforce and those at the lowest end of the ladder.

WASN’T LOCKDOWN THE LAST CHOICE BECAUSE THE PANDEMIC WASN’T STOPPED AT OUR DOOR

Everyone was forced to demand a lockdown because cases and deaths spiralled out of control and everything had to be shut down, But let us ask what led to that stage.

Goa was one of the States which had the lowest number of cases. The government was boasting that it had effectively managed to make Goa virtually COVID free. There was no planning done to augment oxygen productions, medical faculties, manpower, COVID beds and ventilators.

Weren’t so many Goans robbed of their livelihoods, because the system did not prepare and had to “lockdown”?

The borders were open for anyone to walk, fly or drive in without tests. All casinos were open with no restrictions turning them into super spreaders, with grave risk to the employees of the casinos’ operations themselves, many of whom contracted COVID/The casinos players went back to their States but their infections spread through families of casino employees locally. The same was the case in restaurants and night clubs.

The already under prepared health system simply collapsed as soon as the effect of these poor decisions started to get felt with a spiralling case count and alarming deaths living not just hospitals crumbling but even the crematoriums and morgues.

THE SITUATION WENT OUT OF HAND. A LOCKDOWN CALLED A “CURFEW” WAS FORCED TO SAVE LIVES. BUT IT DESTROYED LIVELIHOODS

And Goa is not alone. But is a part of an overall phenomenon of bad planning forced lockdowns and a big blow to livelihoods and futures

The United Nations in a report published last year estimated the number of poor people in India at 364 million, which is 28 per cent of the population. Now, more millions are joining the ranks of the poor. According to an in-depth report on the date journalism website India Spend a  World Bank blog on ‘Impact of Covid-19 on global poverty has warned about more people being pushed into poverty.

Meanwhile, Investment bank Barclays has said that India is losing about $8 billion–about Rs 60,000 crore–every week in May. The total loss will be $117 billion (Rs 8.5 lakh crore). 

Mahesh Vyas, CEO of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy in an interview, to India Spend said in the previous lockdown, over 100 million jobs were lost and most came back. Now, many of these jobs have been lost again. 126 million jobs have been lost.

To add to people’s misery there are mounting bills, no rebate on taxes, no easy loan and no relaxation of EMIs

In Goa, the system has made it worse. The loss of income has become more crippling as banks have refused to be lenient about EMIs, loans to restart or start small businesses are not been furnished, the government has not come forward as a guarantor for loans for small businessmen, as they did for mining workers.

At the same time welfare schemes of the Goa government have remained on paper for a long period as poor people, have not received money for schemes like Griha Adhar and Ladli Laxmi in their accounts for months.

SO WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO OUR POOR GOANS. SIMPLY MADE THEM POORER

This is what we are left with. There is no room for any relief that the economy is opening up and businesses will start. Unless we make our common Goan self-reliant and put money in his pocket, which we have snatched, we have lost the battle. And that is exactly where we are now. We have failed to earn lessons from countries like Germany and even smaller countries in South East Asia or applied the basic common sense of economic planning.

Let us understand this. Poverty is the real pandemic. And lockdowns make it worse.