April 15, 2020, by Pratyusha Jha
Nations across the world have arisen into action to contain the impact of this epidemic. And What are the impacts or effects of coronavirus in India? China is walling off major cities and public places. Italy is shutting down schools. America has embarked aggressively both to quarantine people as well as hasten research efforts to find a cure.
Many other nations have announced various measures to address this issue. India too must act swiftly and announce a mission-critical team that will be tasked with addressing the issue. As the novel coronavirus spreads, a double crisis occurs over the whole of India: a health crisis and an economic crisis. In terms of casualties, the health crisis is still very confined (seven deaths in a country where eight million people die every year), but the numbers are growing fast.
Meanwhile, the economic crisis is hitting with full force, throwing millions out of work by the day. Unlike the health crisis, it is not class-neutral but hurts poor people the most.
The economic standstill in Maharashtra is spreading fast to other States. As factories, shops, offices, and worksites close with little hope of an early return to normal.
With transport routes dislocated, even the coming wheat harvest, a critical source of survival for millions of laboring families in north India, may not bring much relief. There is a danger of people’s hardships being aggravated by a tendency to shut down essential services.
Some of these interruptions are certainly justified, but others are likely to be counter-productive. Even if discontinuing public services helps to contain the health crisis, the economic consequences need to be considered.
To access the case for various precautionary measures, we must bear in mind the dual motive for taking precautions. When you decide to stay at home, there are two possible motives for it: a self-protection motive and a public-purpose motive.
In the first case, you act out of fear of being infected. In the second, you participate in collective efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
Some people think about precautions as a matter of self-protection. What they may not realize is that the individual risk of getting infected is still tiny, so small that it is hardly worth any self-protection efforts (except for special groups such as health workers and the elderly).
Four hundred thousand people die of tuberculosis in India every year, yet we take no special precautions against it. So why do we take precautions for COVID-19? The enlightened reason is not to protect ourselves, but to contribute to collective efforts to halt the epidemic and to help to minimize the effects of coronavirus in India.
Keeping public services going in this situation is likely to require some initiative and creativity. Similar reasoning applies to the case for shutting down public services as a precautionary measure. Self-protection of public employees is not a major issue (for the time being), the main consideration is a public purpose. Further, the public purpose must include the possible economic consequences of a shutdown.
If a service creates a major health hazard, the public purpose may certainly call for it to be discontinued (this is the reason for closing schools and colleges). On the other hand, services that help poor people in their hour of need without creating a major health hazard should continue to function as far as possible.
That would apply not only to health services or the Public Distribution System but also to many other public services including administrative offices at the district and local levels. Poor people depend on these services in multiple ways, closing them across the board at this time would worsen the economic crisis without doing much to stem the health crisis.
An explicit list of essential services (already available in some States) and official guidelines on coronavirus readiness at the workplace would be a good start. Many public premises are crying for better distancing arrangements. Some services can even be reinvented for now to overcome the effects of coronavirus in India
For instance, anganwadis could play a vital role in public-health outreach at this time, even if children have to be kept away. Many public spaces could also be used, with due safeguards, to disseminate information or to impart good habits such as distancing and washing hands.
The urgent need for effective social security measures makes it all the more important to avoid a loss of nerve. The way things are going today, it will soon be very difficult for some State governments to run the Public Distribution System or take good care of drinking water.
Top social schemes should be the need of the hour. That would push even more people to the wall, worsening not only the economic crisis but possibly the health crisis as well. This is not the time to let India’s frail safety net unravel.
Since time is of the essence, the first step is to make good use of existing social-security schemes to support poor people — pensions, the Public Distribution System (PDS), midday meals, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), among others.
Initial measures could include advance payment of pensions, enhanced PDS rations, immediate payment of MGNREGA wage arrears, and expanded distribution of take-home rations at schools and anganwadis.
Some states have already taken useful steps of this sort, but the scale of relief measures needs radical expansion. That, in turn, requires big money from the Central government. It also requires the government to avoid squandering its resources on corporate bailouts, most crisis-affected sectors of the economy will soon be lobbying for rescue packages.
The average household in, say, Canada or Italy can take a lockdown in its stride (for some time at least), but the staying power of the Indian poor is virtually nil. It is time to confront the harsh reality of the grave risks we face as a nation and address them squarely and sufficiently. There could be some best practices we can adopt from other nations.
Nations across the world have arisen into action to contain the impact of this epidemic. And What are the impacts or effects of coronavirus in India? China is walling off major cities and public places. Italy is shutting down schools. America has embarked aggressively both to quarantine people as well as hasten research efforts to find a cure.
Many other nations have announced various measures to address this issue. India too must act swiftly and announce a mission-critical team that will be tasked with addressing the issue. As the novel coronavirus spreads, a double crisis occurs over the whole of India: a health crisis and an economic crisis. In terms of casualties, the health crisis is still very confined (seven deaths in a country where eight million people die every year), but the numbers are growing fast.
Meanwhile, the economic crisis is hitting with full force, throwing millions out of work by the day. Unlike the health crisis, it is not class-neutral but hurts poor people the most.
The economic crisis in India due to lockdown
The effects of coronavirus in India are noticeably negative, especially on the economic side. Migrant workers, street vendors, contract workers, almost everyone in the informal sector the bulk of the workforce is being hit by this economic tsunami. For instance, In Maharashtra, the mass discharge has forced migrant workers to rush home, some without being paid. Many of them are now stranded between Maharashtra and their homes as trains have been canceled.The economic standstill in Maharashtra is spreading fast to other States. As factories, shops, offices, and worksites close with little hope of an early return to normal.
With transport routes dislocated, even the coming wheat harvest, a critical source of survival for millions of laboring families in north India, may not bring much relief. There is a danger of people’s hardships being aggravated by a tendency to shut down essential services.
Common people will get affected
We are dealing not only with a health crisis but also with an economic crisis. Public transport, administrative offices, court hearings, MGNREGA projects, and even immunization drives have already been suspended to varying degrees in many States.Some of these interruptions are certainly justified, but others are likely to be counter-productive. Even if discontinuing public services helps to contain the health crisis, the economic consequences need to be considered.
To access the case for various precautionary measures, we must bear in mind the dual motive for taking precautions. When you decide to stay at home, there are two possible motives for it: a self-protection motive and a public-purpose motive.
In the first case, you act out of fear of being infected. In the second, you participate in collective efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
Some people think about precautions as a matter of self-protection. What they may not realize is that the individual risk of getting infected is still tiny, so small that it is hardly worth any self-protection efforts (except for special groups such as health workers and the elderly).
Four hundred thousand people die of tuberculosis in India every year, yet we take no special precautions against it. So why do we take precautions for COVID-19? The enlightened reason is not to protect ourselves, but to contribute to collective efforts to halt the epidemic and to help to minimize the effects of coronavirus in India.
Keeping public services going in this situation is likely to require some initiative and creativity. Similar reasoning applies to the case for shutting down public services as a precautionary measure. Self-protection of public employees is not a major issue (for the time being), the main consideration is a public purpose. Further, the public purpose must include the possible economic consequences of a shutdown.
If a service creates a major health hazard, the public purpose may certainly call for it to be discontinued (this is the reason for closing schools and colleges). On the other hand, services that help poor people in their hour of need without creating a major health hazard should continue to function as far as possible.
That would apply not only to health services or the Public Distribution System but also to many other public services including administrative offices at the district and local levels. Poor people depend on these services in multiple ways, closing them across the board at this time would worsen the economic crisis without doing much to stem the health crisis.
Steps to be taken
An explicit list of essential services (already available in some States) and official guidelines on coronavirus readiness at the workplace would be a good start. Many public premises are crying for better distancing arrangements. Some services can even be reinvented for now to overcome the effects of coronavirus in India
For instance, anganwadis could play a vital role in public-health outreach at this time, even if children have to be kept away. Many public spaces could also be used, with due safeguards, to disseminate information or to impart good habits such as distancing and washing hands.
The urgent need for effective social security measures makes it all the more important to avoid a loss of nerve. The way things are going today, it will soon be very difficult for some State governments to run the Public Distribution System or take good care of drinking water.
Social schemes to fight the effects of coronavirus in India
Top social schemes should be the need of the hour. That would push even more people to the wall, worsening not only the economic crisis but possibly the health crisis as well. This is not the time to let India’s frail safety net unravel.
Since time is of the essence, the first step is to make good use of existing social-security schemes to support poor people — pensions, the Public Distribution System (PDS), midday meals, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), among others.
Initial measures could include advance payment of pensions, enhanced PDS rations, immediate payment of MGNREGA wage arrears, and expanded distribution of take-home rations at schools and anganwadis.
Some states have already taken useful steps of this sort, but the scale of relief measures needs radical expansion. That, in turn, requires big money from the Central government. It also requires the government to avoid squandering its resources on corporate bailouts, most crisis-affected sectors of the economy will soon be lobbying for rescue packages.
Conclusion
This economic crisis calls for urgent, massive relief measures. Lockdowns are needed to slow down the epidemic, but poor people cannot afford to stay idle at home. If they are asked to stay home, they will need help. There is a critical difference, in this respect, between India and affluent countries with a good social security system. Common people together can beat the negative effects of coronavirus in India.The average household in, say, Canada or Italy can take a lockdown in its stride (for some time at least), but the staying power of the Indian poor is virtually nil. It is time to confront the harsh reality of the grave risks we face as a nation and address them squarely and sufficiently. There could be some best practices we can adopt from other nations.