THE NARENDRA MODI GOVERNMENT HAS managed to turn a health emergency into independent India’s biggest humanitarian disaster. What started as a threat from COVID-19 has become a multidimensional crisis. Economic activity has collapsed, resulting in waves of job and income losses. The ongoing phase of the lockdown—chaotic in every possible way because of the bureaucratic definition of zones, restrictions, regular revisions of guidelines arising from the Home Ministry’s tight grip on when and how even a screw will turn in the country—is unlikely to end well. Ironically, the lockdown is likely to be lifted at a time when the caseload is rising, and the economy’s prospects look dim.
The Modi regime’s penchant for the theatrical flourish was on display when the Prime Minister announced that a Rs.20 lakh crore “economic package” was on its way. Like many of his speeches, this one too had a buzzword: he said his vision was to make India Aatmanirbhar—translated officially into English rather inaccurately as “self-reliant” but more accurately and ominously as taking charge of one’s own destiny. True to form, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, whose gruelling marathon Budget speech of February is still fresh in memory, started unveiling the package on May 13 and continued to do so in a series of press conferences over five days. What the Minister delivered turned out to be not just a damp squib but a gigantic exercise in subterfuge. She managed to conjure up a package that beat even what the Prime Minister had promised—a total package amounting to Rs.20.97 lakh crore. But the large package turned out to be empty.
Bu hikaye FRONTLINE dergisinin June 5, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye FRONTLINE dergisinin June 5, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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.
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.
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. .
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.
Job Offers Withdrawn, Internships Now Unpaid
Engineering and business school graduates stare at a bleak future as job offers are withdrawn or revised, while delays in joining dates add to the climate of uncertainty.
In search of a road map
It is now increasingly clear that the government did not think through and provide for the consequences of the lockdown.
Clueless captain
As the nation longs for relief from the pandemic and the economic misery caused by an ill-planned lockdown, the government prefers symbolism over substance, exposing its lack of meaningful leadership.
RISING TREND
There are no signs of any let-up in the COVID case numbers well into the third phase of the lockdown even as issues of violation of physical distancing norms, mistreatment of front-line health workers, inadequate public health infrastructure and increasing distress among the poor come to the fore in most States, besides of course the low testing numbers and haphazard screening and isolation of suspect cases.
Dystopian pipe dream
The reluctance of the Narendra Modi regime to extend fiscal support to those in real need of help during a prolonged lockdown suggests that it is promoting further concentration of capital. Dire consequences await the economy and the polity.
