Virus Not The Great Leveller It Is Touted To Be

It’s not just unequal living conditions that are hurting the poor. Unequal access to power also continues even during this unprecedented crisis

- Jyoti Punwani

Inequality in India is palpable. You don’t need to know that our Gini coefficient (which measures wealth inequality in countries) is a high 83, or that India was ranked 147th out of the 157 countries by Oxfam’s “Commitment to Reduce Inequality” Index in 2018. The inequality in our society is visible when people like us buy vegetables for a week from our regular vendor just as he’s being given 10 minutes to wrap up and leave, for the coronavirus curfew has suddenly been imposed for 48 hours. What will he do with the stock he bought just this morning? Who knows and who cares? The inequality is visible when, in accordance with the new social distancing rules, we collect our bulky online order of groceries at the gate under the gaze of the security guard, who knows his rations are dwindling, and, though he’s getting his salary, neither are shops open nor are foodgrains affordable.

This inequality ensures that in India, the coronavirus cannot be the great leveller it is touted to be. Yet, even though it wouldn’t have been possible even for the best-intentioned government to overcome this inherent, age-old inequality, the Centre and states could have at least tried to ensure that those at the bottom rung did not suffer beyond endurance. Gandhiji’s talisman, “Recall the face of the poorest and weakest”, has been forgotten by governments for so long that it’s naive to expect them to act by it today. But the authorities could at least have shown some basic human decency. Even that proved too much to expect.