ANNOUNCING THE FIRST PHASE OF THE national lockdown on March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to employers to be compassionate towards their employees. On April 14 when the first phase of the lockdown came to an end, he once again appealed to employers not to dismiss their employees. By then there were reports of employers laying off their workers and of jobless migrant workers being anxious to return home. Perhaps anticipating that employers would resort to such tactics, the Labour Ministry sent a letter to employers on March 20, pointing to the catastrophic situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which could lead to services of workers being dispensed with or workers being forced to go on leave without wages and salaries. Stating that coordinated efforts of all sections of society were needed to meet the public health challenge, it advised employers to extend their cooperation by not terminating their employees, especially casual contract workers, or reducing their wages. Strangely, the advisory also said that if the place of employment became non-operational due to COVID-19, the employees would be deemed to be on duty. It stated that reduction of wages or termination of employees would not only weaken their financial condition but lower their morale to fight the epidemic. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Ministry spoke about “labour reforms”. That the appeals proved ineffective became evident when thousands of migrant workers deprived of their jobs decided to return to their home States, many of them traversing hundreds of kilometres on foot or by cycle.
This story is from the June 5, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the June 5, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
