The coronavirus struck China in January 2020, and grew steadily and impacted the globe. In India, the coronavirus came a little late in comparison to other countries such as Italy, Iran, Spain, USA, and others. Hence, India had a preparatory time to deal with the upcoming challenge. Unlike its close ally, USA, India took serious measures to deal with the coronavirus.
Series of restrictions started to float from the second week of March 2020 till a complete lockdown was imposed on the nation on 22 March 2020. The lockdown was announced for 21 days, i.e., till 14 April 2020. During this period, apart from essential services such as doctors, police, rations, pharmacy and dairy, all services and activities were seized.
The seize created a big impact on the economy. Many SMSEs (Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises) and units were stopped due to which a large number of migrant labors tried to reverse-migrate to their homeland. As many of the poor class and daily wage workers can’t keep up with the constant pressure of daily expense with no income, the government tried to provide free meals and rations to the people. However, they opted to migrate back. In fact, at many places, the government was unable to provide adequate amounts of ration and food due to the sudden demand.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has crossed a tally of over 6700 cases and 206 mortality, as noted on 10 April 2020. The surge in cases is mainly due to a few activities in the urban centers. In fact, most of the Covid-19 positive cases are coming from the urban centers. It seems that the coronavirus has largely affected the major cities and hasn’t trickled down to the rural areas to a large extent. The government has identified hotspot areas and is constantly keeping track of other areas.
For those not conversant with epidemic terminology, a disease cluster is a localized area where 10 or more cases of an infection have been found. If several clusters develop in any particular region, it, clubbed with its neighboring areas, is called a hotspot.
The government is yet to decide the fate of the lockdown; however, two states, Odisha and Punjab, have already announced an extension of lockdown till 30 April 2020. Other CMs are also planning an extension. But the question still arises, how long will this lockdown continue? The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, has already announced that they only have 2 months of funds for Covid-19 response and salaries. The CEO of Bajaj Auto, Rajiv Bajaj, had said that the lockdown was making the country weaker than stronger.
According to an Inshorts survey, 88% of people want to extend the lockdown. However, Inshorts, being an online media platform, represents a class of people who are able to afford technology and have reserve funds through which they can survive not only for some days but for a few months. However, people can’t survive only with money. With the constant lockdown, the laborers have reverse-migrated to their native places and production has gone from being low to zero. Presently, due to the availability of supplies, people are able to get the ‘essential items’.
The extension of the lockdown will not only impact agriculture but also the allied activities. After the drying up of the current reserves of food and other essential items, they won’t be replenished without production. Only with the supply side constantly producing the goods can the needs of the urban centers be fulfilled. Many news reports have shown concern towards the inability of famers to pay their loans if the lockdown continues.
So, Should The Lockdown Be Lifted Or Extended?
Answer to both the questions is yes. Completely lifting the lockdown will put the population into the vulnerable position of catching the coronavirus. From the information provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it is clear that some parts of the country are more affected than other parts. Central and East India are the most affected by the coronavirus. In other parts, the situation is under control.
The rate of contamination will be high in government-identified hotspots and the urban centrers and most of the companies have been working from home. Extending the lockdown only in the hotspots and major urban cities, as well as taking this opportunity to strengthen the local SMSEs, farmers’ producer groups, and creating more decentralized economic centers will help the country to fight the coronavirus and address the upcoming problem of supply shortage and economic growth. This opportunity could be a great platform for the farmers to have decentralized economic centers to reduce urban migration and centralization of goods which will increase the income of farmers—which the government has been trying to do for a long time.
The areas should not be opened completely; each district should act as a unit for easy monitoring and confining the people only to their districts will create more organic systems. If any case is found in the district, then the district should be completely locked down. The central government should identify all value chain addition industries and allied activities along with operational guidelines to be followed by public in semi-lockdown areas.