As lockdown 4 comes with easing of curbs, let us not undo gains with reckless behaviour. Self-control is the best preventive
Though the country is now going into lockdown 4, ostensibly at the request of States that have high cluster spirals and where containment is still a long-drawn problem, there is also a corresponding easing of restrictions to get the economy back on rails. So this lockdown is a lot about public behavioural discipline and compliance of norms and less of Government enforcement to ensure we slip into a culture of living with the virus. The Government would much rather focus on containing transmission of the disease with a targetted and focussed approach in containment areas and allow resumption of the business of living in other areas. This, of course, does not mean a letting down of guard; the Government is keeping a watch but the onus of observance and vigil shifts considerably to citizens and local administrations. In fact, that is how things should be, a decentralised way of handling things. The Centre can only form broad policies but it is the States that are at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19, which is manifesting itself in different ways in different contexts and strains. This is one of the reasons why at the Prime Minister’s teleconference with Chief Ministers, the latter argued that they be allowed to decide on zoning and easing of restrictions as they are best placed to assess and work on a situational report. It has taken Prime Minister Narendra Modi, usually known for his centrist and top-down approach, some effort to change himself and engage in consultative and cooperative federalism though all the “point taken” notes may not have reflected in policy always. But inputs now have to be matched with output. Which means the disease management has to be left to the wisdom of State Governments, irrespective of political affiliation or point-scoring. Central intervention can be limited to strategic management and lending expertise. Of course, it must now ramp up financial assistance within a reasonable range and work out a national fiscal stimulus, enable big bang reforms and launch economic correctives. Yes, things were mishandled in the beginning. The unplanned and sudden lockdown set off an unprecedented reverse migration of daily wagers, who were evicted from their livelihoods and settlements overnight. Now that there is a system of repatriating them through buses and trains, with the Prime Minister himself acknowledging that the right to return home must be respected, one wonders why this could not have been done before when the disease burden had not quite bulged out of shape and a disciplined exit would have saved them from contracting infection at overcrowded camps and assemblage points. Even now this unanticipated exodus of labourers from cities to their villages continues unabated, shocking us out of our wits when they die along the way due to hunger, dehydration or accidents. Those who cannot afford a bus or train as daily earnings have meant no savings — a majority, in fact — continue to trudge hundreds of kilometres, over weeks, in the journey back home where they may have a hovel and live off the land. And if they had to be held back, there should have been assurances, job camps and soup kitchens, something that are being organised by some private organisations even as States like Haryana and Punjab are registering migrants on a portal to relocate them to safe working sites that are running now. While the lockdown has given us ample time for preparing counter-strategies and medical infrastructure, testing wasn’t intensive or fast enough to trace a pattern of clusters and hotspots and map the spread early. And though the Government is relying on its response module of experts, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to broadbase that and get the best minds in medicine, economics and social sectors to submit their recovery strategies, regardless of whether they have been approached or not. Be that as it may, course correction can begin even now and howsoever flawed, the lockdown was needed in a densely populated country like ours.
Also, let us not forget the resurgence of the disease, the second wave as it is called, in South Korea, Germany and even Italy, where lockdown exits have been allowed but have gone out of hand as people got into their old socialising habits at public spaces. India will have to be very careful about not losing the advantage so far by giving into abandon. It can learn from scenarios in various countries. For example, the UK has allowed people to meet friends or relatives in parks maintaining a two-metre distance and will be permitting standalone shops, eateries and salons gradually thereafter. Of course, any spike will mean withdrawal of these freedoms. In the end, we have to reconcile that we have to mostly stay at home, even work from there and limit our public presence. This may seem a tall order but without a vaccine, our choices will shape our right to live.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
There is need for a comprehensive legislation encompassing all aspects of public life, stipulating rules and regulations vis-a-vis social distancing and crowd management
Despite the fact that nearly three billion people are under lockdown globally, there has been no let-up in the number of Coronavirus cases. The world is still busy battling the Corona crisis as the number of cases has risen to 42,68,496 and casualties have touched the 2,87,463 mark globally. India, too, has seen the number of confirmed cases rise to 70,827 and deaths spike to 2,294 despite the prolonged lockdown the nation has placed itself under. As the world economy stumbles and the monetary security of many nations lies in tatters, more and more countries are coming round to the realisation that they will have to open up their economies sooner than later. Even India has decided that it needs to live with the Coronavirus and the Government has begun to ease restrictions slowly.
As we gradually come out of the lockdown, there is a realisation that life is not going to be the same again. The world, as we know it, has changed as we have to live with the virus. The possibility of the invention of a vaccine as of now appears to be very remote. So, in order to survive, we just have to change the way we live our lives and bring in new legislation to enforce social distancing and crowd management, which are the two crucial aspects relevant to the control and the spread of the Coronavirus.
Albeit different legislations in relation to safety at the workplace and public places have been passed, they are directed only towards providing physical safety. These legislations, viz. the Municipal Corporations Act, Municipalities Act and certain other regulations relating to workplace hazards do not contemplate the requisite guidelines pertaining to social distancing and crowd management. Other statutes relating to workplace hazards contemplate only the steps to be taken in relation to the health of the staff vis-a-vis the nature of work that is being done.
Covid-19 has compelled us to adhere to new norms in relation to health, irrespective of the nature of work, place of congregation, reason for the gathering and so on. Certain measures like maintaining hygiene, social distancing, wearing masks and restricting the number of people travelling in a car to three, have to be compulsorily adhered to.
The shutdowns can only buy us time to prepare for the pandemic and reduce the pressure on the healthcare system, but will in no way help end the epidemic. There is a possibility of an exponential increase in cases once the lockdown is totally lifted. As it is, we have seen a spike in cases after the Government eased some restrictions and allowed limited economic activity.
So, unless our conduct is strictly regulated, it would be very difficult to prevent large-scale community transmission of the dreaded virus. Highly-regulated social conduct is warranted to minimise the destruction that may be caused in future due to outbreaks.
At present, the legislations are directed only towards workplaces. They are silent with regard to social distancing and crowd management. For instance while sanctioning permission for construction of a building to run a cinema hall, the requisite parameters taken into account would be the number of seats vis-a-vis the physical safety. But social distancing inter-se between the audience and the management of the crowd at the cinema halls is not stipulated in the legislation. It’s the same in the case of religious places, schools, marriage halls, restaurants and so on.
Therefore, there is a requirement for a comprehensive legislation encompassing all the aspects of public life, stipulating rules and regulations vis-a-vis social distancing and crowd management. The said legislation should have an overriding effect over all the other Acts and anything done under the said Acts should be in consonance with such a legislation.
It should provide for penal provisions in case of violations. The present enactments such as the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005 are not enough to control and enforce strict social distancing and crowd management in various spheres of life as they don’t contemplate these norms. In fact, these legislations are being invoked as a temporary measure now.
The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 is a very short legislation which can be enforced only when there is a pandemic but would not serve the purpose of preventing one. Similarly the Disaster Management Act, too, is directed mostly at post-disaster management and not at averting one.
The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 was enacted for the better prevention of the spread of contagions. Section 2 of the Act contemplates that, “When at any time the State Government is satisfied that the State or any part thereof is visited by or threatened with an outbreak of disease, the State Government may take, or require or empower any person to take, such measures and by public notice, prescribe such temporary regulations to be observed by the public by any person or class of persons as it shall deem necessary, to prevent the outbreak of such disease or the spread thereof. It may determine in what manner and by whom any expenses incurred shall be defrayed.”
Section 2A confers power upon the Central Government to take measures and prescribe regulations for the inspection of any ship or vessel leaving or arriving at any port and for its detention. The said provisions do not contemplate any permanent regulations and the rules governing the field of social distancing. While enacting the said legislation, the draftsmen could not have visualised the present complex nature of development viz. commercial and technological.
The Disaster Management Act, 2005 was enacted to provide for requisite institutional mechanisms for drawing up and monitoring the implementation of disaster management plans and ensuring measures for the prevention and mitigation of the effects of disaster and for undertaking holistic, coordinated and prompt response to any disaster situations. Section2(d) defines disaster as a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area arising from natural or man-made causes or by accident or negligence, which result in substantial loss of life or human suffering. The reading of the definition shows that essentially the Act is directed towards post-disaster management.
Similarly Section2(e) which defines disaster management also shows that it is directed only in relation to post disaster management. Section 75 and 76 confer powers upon the Central Government to make rules and regulations. Section 78 confers power upon the State Government to make rules but the said rules and regulations would be in relation to disaster management but do not take into their fold comprehensive guidelines to regulate social distancing and the crowd management at all places of congregation.
As these two legislations cannot provide any regulation for social distancing and crowd management post the lifting of the lockdown, there is a dire need for a comprehensive legislation to do that.
The statute would have to take into its fold various types of congregations and issue necessary guidelines to be followed for regulating social distancing and crowd management. What we require is the prevention of spread of any virus/disease due to human contact directly or indirectly. To do this we need a comprehensive legislation stipulating various conditions taking into its fold various spheres of congregation.
The said law should also contemplate the creation of an expert body to frame respective guidelines in relation to social distancing and crowd management at different places of congregation.
The action that has been initiated by the Central and State Governments at present is only for the purpose of controlling the spread of the virus during the lockdown period. Once the lockdown ends, and end it will one day, the parameters relating to social distancing and crowd management would be very essential. Therefore, unless such a legislation is brought into force it would be very difficult for us to live with the Coronavirus.
(Writer: Chittarvu Raghu; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Inter-city AC trains resume to inject lifeblood in a nation’s public transport system and codify how to live with the virus
The prolonged lockdown and the slowly peaking disease spiral have extracted a ransom beyond our capacity. Public health continues to be a concern in States as the fatigue and desperation of a lockdown mean there are more violations and people are getting out. And with the economy in stasis, now there is no option but to open it up and risk a percentage swell in disease figures than have thousands die because of joblessness and zero revenues. In essence, the Government is counting on a dual strategy. One is to facilitate the economy by allowing movement of labour and people and restart projects and production. Second, with a better depth of testing, hopefully it can identify the disease early enough and tame the virus even if there is a surge of cases. But the most important communication strategy to citizens is that they have to now live responsibly with the virus, follow norms strictly as the Government moves away from the role of enforcer of discipline to being a facilitator of governance and the economy. So in a carefully graded manner, the Government is opening up the public transportation system, beginning with long distance AC trains and linking destinations regardless of the colour coding. Till now only freight services to transport essential goods and ‘Special Shramik’ trains were operational. The idea of inter-city AC coach travel is clearly aimed at boosting revenue and facilitating need-based travel for business and family matters. There’s an emotional component that everybody has neglected, that of the right of far-flung people wanting to be with their family in the nation’s darkest hour. In fact, the newly-formatted train travel will change the way we access India’s other mass transport systems. There will be e-bookings and tickets, possibly some QR codes going forward. There will be no counter tickets or even platform tickets, so no more seeing off rituals. Passengers will have to report 90 minutes before the departure of the train, undergo screening drills and wear face masks at all times. Of course, there will be limits to passenger numbers to maintain social distancing norms. One has to carry one’s own food and linens as no blankets or food involving touch will be distributed. The 15 pairs of trains running from New Delhi will connect the far reaches of the country but are just a drop in the ocean. The Railways ran more than 20,000 passenger trains daily, on both long-distance and suburban routes, from 7,349 stations across India. But this is just a start. They will roll out more trains over the coming weeks once ‘Shramik Special’ trains, carrying thousands of internal migrants back, as well as the coaches for quarantine centres, are accounted for. The Railways have been preparing the drill weeks ahead at most stations as the new normal means more public wardens, railway police and a logistics systems to restrict overcrowding in platforms and ensure people comply with behavioural discipline. Besides, considering the virus thrives in enclosed and conditioned spaces, sanitisation and disinfection of compartments, particularly filtering the air ducts, will be a time-consuming drill.
India’s transportation system is its lifeblood. Running trains, buses and planes is a prerequisite for the country to get moving again. It also demonstrates our resolve to begin the long march to some semblance of normalcy. Local buses and trains might start functioning in green and even orange zones. Unfortunately most large cities across India are COVID-19 hotspots, so it might be a while before a substantial public transport system gets going here. Also some movement might be accelerated in contiguous safe stretches, creating micro-zones. Even the aviation sector is set to open with drills and assessments in place. To begin with, flights will operate in just 25 per cent of sectors with less than two hours of travel and would not provide catering services. Flyers have to compulsorily download the Aarogya Setu app, developed to track COVID-19 patients. However, the same app would be voluntary for train passengers, keeping in mind the general and second class travellers may not have smartphones. Countries across the world are gradually easing lockdown provisions and restrictions on domestic long-distance travel. It might be months before nations open their borders to businessmen and tourists but getting trains and planes running is essential towards the resumption of the economy that’s congealing rapidly. This has been an unexpected and devastating situation and getting out will take a lot of effort from governments, bureaucrats and the public at large. We should not even pretend it will be easy and applaud the Railways for their move. That said, we should not at any time let our guard down, we have already paid a terrible price for this virus, millions of shattered lives and a destroyed economy. Let’s not lose what we’ve gained from the lockdown.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Both Pakistan and China have kept the borders hot, taking advantage of the unprecedented challenge posed by COVID-19
Just when one thought that the devastation caused by the Coronavirus would unite the world in taming it and lead to a broader humanitarian spirit, geopolitics has inevitably come in play. In the middle of its toughest battle against the disease, India is facing a diplomatic standoff with its neighbours, namely Pakistan and China. Looks like the two all-weather friends have timed a pincer grip on India at its weakest moment to stare down at us diplomatically. Relations with Pakistan have gone further downhill during the pandemic as our western neighbour has not let up on exporting terrorism and escalating skirmishes along the borders. In fact, there has been an upward spike in cross-border infiltration since last year. According to Indian Army data, there were 411 ceasefire violations by Pakistan’s military in March, the highest number in a single month since 2018. This year itself, in 127 days, as many as 55 terrorists have been killed, which means roughly one encounter every two days. Besides, Pakistan-backed militants are making sustained attempts to infiltrate into India via the international border in the Jammu region, Punjab and the long coastline of Gujarat. With India busy tackling the pandemic, masterminds across the border have been using its preoccupation as an opportune time to divert us. Yesterday, top intelligence sources reported that the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba had joined hands with Pakistan-based don Dawood Ibrahim to repeat an attack similar to the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike. Encounters, too, have seen a steep rise. There have been reports of the Pakistan Army smuggling weapons from across the borders with the use of drones. With all trading activities suspended along the Line of Control, its tried and tested formula of using the narco-terror model to raise funds for terrorists is now futile. Other developments, like the US’ move to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, has emboldened it, too, as it sees itself as a strategic counterweight in our backyard. Of course, we weren’t caught off guard. The gunning down of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo came as a big blow to militancy in Kashmir and was yet another example of how misguided youths in the Valley continue to be used to fulfil the Pakistani agenda.
Although India has not been aggressive in its public stance against China despite the global flak the latter has drawn over the virus and the faulty test kits that it shipped here, China has not taken kindly to the Government’s rightful move of preventing takeovers of our companies by its corporations during the low economic troughs. So it has resorted to its old trope of renewing border hostilities at Ladakh and Sikkim and claiming rights over undisputed territories. Though both sides simmered down, the scuffles between the two nations’ armies have deepened the general distrust of China. Our preparedness has to be taut regardless of what ails us.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Web portals by Punjab and Haryana Governments, listing job and project sites, are helping reverse the migrant exodus
Amid the doom and gloom of reverse migration and heart-breaking stories of the long march home, there has been some hope. As migrant workers head back to their villages, about 1.09 lakh from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have applied on a Haryana government web portal to return to the State to work at plants and units located in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panipat, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Yamunanagar and Rewari. And encouraged by the response, the Haryana Government is even planning to make arrangements to bring them back. Even neighbouring Punjab has taken the lead in registering the migrants residing within the State on a portal, reaching out to them and facilitating their return to their home States should they want to or moving them to job sites should they decide to stay back. It is true that the migrants moving back home are just making the lesser hopeless choice. Having lost their jobs, daily wages and their shacks overnight, they chose to go back home and rely on the subsistence economy there. They hoped to get by with the Government increasing rations and some government project work at the local level. But at least they would be safe from the “big city” virus, not have to stay at the cramped encampments or be looked at with suspicion as virus carriers. In fact, Haryana’s relatively lower Coronavirus numbers are a major factor in the workers seeking to return. Till Friday, Haryana had 647 positive cases, including 14 Italian nationals, and eight deaths. This has also helped the State open up businesses faster. In fact, some migrants had already left the State before the lockdown and not having found suitable rehabilitation or job opportunities back home are now keen to return. Besides, some of the returnees, because they have moved across States hit by the virus, have not been able to resume their lives at their homes as they have been quarantined and are being monitored to see if they were asymptomatic carriers. The long clearances are costing them important man days at work.
Both Punjab and Haryana have launched the migrant web portal soon enough, and the responses there are reason enough why there should be inter-state coordination on mounting a national migrant database, along with labourers’ location, health status and skill sets. This would not only help them find job sites but also coordinate their journey back home should they so desire. As India opens up in phases post-lockdown 3, workforce coordination would have to rely heavily on data analytics and digital platforms that should be adopted by both the Centre and State governments. Till May 8, while 1.46 lakh labourers had applied to return to Haryana, 7.95 lakh wanted to leave. Three-fourths of those who want to come back (74.5 per cent) are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, while 82.55 per cent of those seeking to leave belong to the two states. So corresponding States should also synergise mapping. Besides, State Governments should also plan makeshift shelters at some work sites and hold counselling sessions for labourers before they make a rash decision. India needs its inter-city migrants to rebuild the economy, which is suffering a chronic shortage of labour, but it needs to make them feel valued.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
India is going to get huge foreign investments in the coming days because of the changing geopolitical situation. We must use this opportunity to spread economic activities more evenly
The country is under lockdown since March 25 and all economic activity, especially industrial production, has halted since then. The Government has wisely extended some exemptions in this new phase of the lockdown to bring the economy back on track. The 733 districts of India are broadly divided into Red, Orange and Green Zones. This zone classification is dynamic and will determine the kind of restrictions placed on the movement of people and goods.
However, the uneven growth pattern of India has hurt us like never before. About 70 per cent of the population of India now stays in relatively safe zones i.e. they are either located in the Green or Orange Zone but only 46 per cent of employment activity can start effectively. The rest 54 per cent employment is at risk due to different forms of restrictions. Like in Mumbai and Pune, factories are closed and may remain shut till the end of May. Closing factories in the Red Zone will affect production capacities of Orange and Green Zone factories and production houses as MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) are dependent on locally-produced raw materials. Allowing factories to operate in Red Zones, even at a lower scale, is going to help but it runs under huge production risk and carries the risk of spreading the Coronavirus.
So what went wrong with our development strategy? Well spread out economic activity would have improved the employment figure by up to 65-70 per cent, which would mean more breathing space for MSMEs. Not only that, spatial inequality has resulted in other serious consequences. Due to uneven opportunity available at the local level, a massive number of people have to migrate for employment, education and living. The Economic Survey of India 2017 estimates that the magnitude of inter-State migration was close to nine million annually between 2011 and 2016, while census 2011 puts the number of internal migrants in the country (inter and intra-State movement) at a staggering 139 million. Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar are the biggest source States, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The major destination States are Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The industrial progress of a State, no doubt broadly depends on natural resources, improved social and physical infrastructure, availability of skilled human capital and existence of a potential market. All these factors cumulatively create a business environment that attracts new industry and investment. We have no control over the distribution of natural resources but an important observation is that endowed States hardly make their presence felt in the upper quartile of the growth table. Instead, medium-grade States, with a developed transport, logistic and law and order machinery, excel.
The variation in industrialisation has existed in India since colonial times. States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, due to their proximity to resources and other factors, used to attract most of the investment and therefore industries. A major portion of the hinterland has remained neglected since then. Metropolis district data show that between 1953 and March 1961, of the 4,971 industrial licences granted in the country about 36 per cent went to the three industrial metropolises — Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Nearly 21.5 per cent of all licences in India went to Bombay and 56 per cent of all licenses were given to firms located in the three leading States: Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
During the late 60s and 70s, a spurt in public sector investment took place to improve regional disparity. Several instruments to achieve balanced regional industrialisation were instituted. Industrial licencing was used to draw huge investments in areas lagging behind. Large public sector projects were located in backward States like Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Industrial estates or growth centres were identified for infrastructure development. Incentives were also announced for private investments in backward districts. Several studies have shown that despite the widely-prevalent regional disparity in industrial development, spatial concentration has been declining since 1970. After a gradual shift from the more regulated policy to the market-oriented neo-liberal economy, the tendency for this level of concentration to fall has become stagnant.
More recently, the allotment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) tends to reflect the level of investment disparity. These SEZs are expected to create employment through backward and forward linkage effects and act as a stimulus for the backward regions of India. In 2004-05, the share of the four most industrialised States (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra) in total approvals was 49.5 per cent. While Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Haryana accounted for another 34.4 per cent of total approvals. Thus seven States accounted for 80.6 per cent of approvals. On the other hand, industrially-backward States of Bihar and the North-East did not have a single approval.
The allocation of active SEZs is still the same now. States like West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh had single-digit allocation in 2020, even after 15 years of the SEZ policy. SEZs could have been a tool to unshackle the growth potential of backward areas but failed to take off.
Economic disparity is visible at both, the State and district level. For example, in Maharashtra, industries/employment are typically concentrated in the Mumbai and Pune cluster; so are the SEZs. Mumbai, Thane and Pune constitute about 45 per cent, 52 per cent and 66 per cent of the total MSMEs, registered factories and SEZs respectively in Maharashtra. These figures inevitably suggest how bad other districts are in terms of economic activity and infrastructure. This shows simple negligence and incompetency at the local level.
The presence of natural resources may be God’s gift but not physical and social infrastructure. The local administration and age-old hierarchical posting protocol should be blamed for this inefficiency. Most inexperienced Government staff across all levels and all Government departments are sent to the most challenging district of every State. As soon as they learn to deal or navigate the system they are transferred to a better region. The result is that some districts have become informal training centres for our administration. This vicious circle needs to be broken and the most experienced employees in every department need to be posted to the most challenging areas.
The pandemic has revealed the vulnerabilities of the clustered development agenda. Huge resources are wasted sometimes restricting migrants or otherwise, trying to start factories in Red Zones. These could have been used for more productive purposes and things could have been much better if we were self-sufficient locally. Nevertheless, it is an opportunity to address the spatial variation among States and prepare a holistic development plan. We need to develop a sense of self-reliance not only for basic amenities or facilities but it should be the core of our lifestyle. In coming days, policymakers should think on these lines and prepare a comprehensive policy directive to allow equal access to all; irrespective of their geopolitical position.
India is going to get huge foreign investments in coming days because of the changing geopolitical situation. We must use this opportunity to spread economic activities more evenly. Central and State Governments must work together to urgently change their existing administrative protocols to allow wider access to locals in decision-making.
Technology is a great way to remove locational barriers. Steps for setting up a new business should be mandatorily made online. This will ensure that decisions will be independent of applicant and approver biases. Though this is the need of the hour because of social distancing but it should be the norm rather than a one-time measure. Set up a clearing house at the State and district level for a Single Window Clearance System, online application for electricity connection, digitisation of land records and online payment service for registration under various taxes and so on. These steps significantly cut the time required to start a business as well as implement Government infrastructure projects. Give more power to the local administrations and digitally-enable them. Services like land allocation, electricity and fire clearances should be time-bound in all districts. Land procurement is the single-most important barrier for setting up any business establishment; unless it’s done through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Land records need to be digitised, well-accessed and clear. The local administration plays a critical role in this process and thus, needs to be evaluated regularly. Problem spots should be improved and must not be used as a punishment posting.
(Writer: Arijit das; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Web portals by Punjab and Haryana Governments, listing job and project sites, are helping reverse the migrant exodus
Amid the doom and gloom of reverse migration and heart-breaking stories of the long march home, there has been some hope. As migrant workers head back to their villages, about 1.09 lakh from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have applied on a Haryana government web portal to return to the State to work at plants and units located in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panipat, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Yamunanagar and Rewari. And encouraged by the response, the Haryana Government is even planning to make arrangements to bring them back. Even neighbouring Punjab has taken the lead in registering the migrants residing within the State on a portal, reaching out to them and facilitating their return to their home States should they want to or moving them to job sites should they decide to stay back. It is true that the migrants moving back home are just making the lesser hopeless choice. Having lost their jobs, daily wages and their shacks overnight, they chose to go back home and rely on the subsistence economy there. They hoped to get by with the Government increasing rations and some government project work at the local level. But at least they would be safe from the “big city” virus, not have to stay at the cramped encampments or be looked at with suspicion as virus carriers. In fact, Haryana’s relatively lower Coronavirus numbers are a major factor in the workers seeking to return. Till Friday, Haryana had 647 positive cases, including 14 Italian nationals, and eight deaths. This has also helped the State open up businesses faster. In fact, some migrants had already left the State before the lockdown and not having found suitable rehabilitation or job opportunities back home are now keen to return. Besides, some of the returnees, because they have moved across States hit by the virus, have not been able to resume their lives at their homes as they have been quarantined and are being monitored to see if they were asymptomatic carriers. The long clearances are costing them important man days at work.
Both Punjab and Haryana have launched the migrant web portal soon enough, and the responses there are reason enough why there should be inter-state coordination on mounting a national migrant database, along with labourers’ location, health status and skill sets. This would not only help them find job sites but also coordinate their journey back home should they so desire. As India opens up in phases post-lockdown 3, workforce coordination would have to rely heavily on data analytics and digital platforms that should be adopted by both the Centre and State governments. Till May 8, while 1.46 lakh labourers had applied to return to Haryana, 7.95 lakh wanted to leave. Three-fourths of those who want to come back (74.5 per cent) are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, while 82.55 per cent of those seeking to leave belong to the two states. So corresponding States should also synergise mapping. Besides, State Governments should also plan makeshift shelters at some work sites and hold counselling sessions for labourers before they make a rash decision. India needs its inter-city migrants to rebuild the economy, which is suffering a chronic shortage of labour, but it needs to make them feel valued.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
While countries slowly open up their economies, corporations indicate that working from home will be the new norm
It is becoming clear as a summer’s day now that the Coronavirus spread is continuing, in India and across the world. While the rate of the spread of the infection may have been mitigated in some countries, the fact is that the world will have to live with the virus. But this will mean that several companies will have to continue their work from home policies. Many big tech companies have already done just that. Google has led the way. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google-parent company Alphabet, told his employees they will likely be working from home until the end of the year. Facebook, too, has allegedly made it clear that it will be reopening its offices from July 6 but the number of employees will be limited to those absolutely necessary. What will this mean for professional relationships? After all, the “office water cooler” was always a place for staff members to gather and swap gossip and stories and even strike up a relationship. The last mentioned aspect is quite clearly on hold, particularly with marriages (and even divorces in some countries) being postponed. What will this mean for office politics and the future of work? In the 1980s, we all assumed that by 2020, we will all have flying cars and working will be automated to a large degree. Well, 40 years ago, we had no idea that the entire world would be brought to a standstill by a microscopic organism. Likewise, not too long ago, there were barriers to working from home. Improvements in communication technology have, however, helped dismantle them now. Given the developments in internet connectivity, virtual world communication has become fast and reliable, too.
While paeans have been sung about telecommuting and working from home at the start of the lockdown, it is becoming frighteningly obvious that this is a privilege that only a few can afford. And not just people but also companies. In many offices, including media organisations, production systems demand that people come to work. These folks are as important as the frontline health and public security officials who have little choice but to come to office. And while it might be months before any organisation gets back to full staffing numbers, make no mistake, many firms themselves will be victims of this gift that came from China. The future of work, whenever it does resume, will be markedly different. But much like the future of anything right now, it will be impossible to predict what life will be like at office in 2021.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
The styrene leak from a chemical plant in Vizag confirms that India has not learnt lessons from the Bhopal tragedy. A probe needs to find the reason and laws, too, must be amended
The gas leak incident near Visakhapatnam in the early hours of May 7 has led to the death of more than 10 people and hospitalisation of over 200. According to the district authorities, the gas was confirmed to be either styrene or vinyl benzene. As an intermediary, styrene is known as PVC gas and is used for the manufacture of insulation material, plastic, rubber, pipes, fibre glass and also for the packaging industry. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is the 12th most used chemical in the world. It is to the credit of the district authorities and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), who reacted quickly, that fatalities remained low. Around 500 kg of chemicals were airlifted from Gujarat to neutralise the effect of the gas well in time.
Separately, with the direct intervention of the United Nations (UN), the bar for investigation of the Vizag gas leak case has not only been raised but has also been virtually internationalised. The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, said, “We obviously send our condolences to the victims and hope for the quick recovery of those who have been impacted. These kinds of incidents should be fully investigated by the local authorities.”
While detailed investigations would undoubtedly be undertaken, prima facie, it appears that the protocols necessary for the recommencement of operations after the 45-day lockdown was lifted were not followed. When the accident took place early in the morning, only a handful of casual workers were present. Elements of negligence at multiple levels are more than obvious. For this, evidence will have to be secured immediately and this should be done in the right earnest. While the plant must have been sealed, a team of experts headed by a scientist from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) needs to be constituted immediately to get into various aspects of this matter.
According to scientific research approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency and published in a top scientific journal, Environmental Health Perspectives, chronic exposure to styrene has been linked to the occurrence of neurological and behavioural deficit. This may eventually result in decreased performance, including delayed reaction time and visual disturbances, hearing loss and possibly even peripheral neuropathy. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that styrene is a possible carcinogen and can cause cancer on prolonged exposure.
In this context, let us not repeat the mistakes of the Bhopal tragedy. Even after 35 years of the disaster, scars have not fully healed yet. The chain of suffering of the people has continued unabated for generations as genetic deformities have been reported in some newborns. Bhopal has been listed as the world’s biggest man-made environmental disaster. Thousands of people were killed in this disaster and many more suffered permanent damage or a genetic impact. Responses of our entire system — the executive, legislative and even the judiciary — were found to be inadequate to meet the expectations of the people. Whatever was done by way of relief was too little when compared to catastrophes across the world.
In the case of Vizag, the plant was run by Hindustan Polymers 1961 onwards. Later, it merged with UB Group in 1978. Subsequently, LG Chem of South Korea took over Hindustan Polymers and renamed it as LG Polymers India Pvt Ltd in July 1997. It is understood that after the lockdown, permission to recommence operations was obtained a couple of days ago on phone. The factory inspector and the pollution control board had neither inspected nor understood the sensitivity of such a plant recommencing operations without adequate precautions.
This incident should be a wake-up call for Government agencies as well as the manufacturers since a large number of industries would be preparing to recommence operations after the lockdown is relaxed.
Particularly after the Bhopal disaster, a number of legislations were enacted. From the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to the Public Liability Insurance Act 1991. According to the relevant rules framed by the Government, styrene is classified as a hazardous and a toxic chemical. This should naturally have required a greater degree of supervision and monitoring of operations. Some of the major laws and regulations that appear to have been overlooked in the instant case are, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the rules framed there under such as the Hazardous Waste Management and Handling Rule 1989 and ones framed there under, including the Manufacture, Storage And Import Of Hazardous Chemical (Amendment) Rules, 1989, among others.
Despite a plethora of rules and regulations, there are certain aspects which indicate weakness in our legal system in dealing with such cases. During a discussion in the Parliament on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, it was mentioned by the late Arun Jaitley, who was then the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, “We have a sad and unfortunate experience of the Bhopal gas leak. This law deals only with nuclear incidents. I think, two lessons still remain. If there are incidents and accidents, which are not on account of a nuclear incident but because of which a large number of casualty and damage does take place, our legal regime even today is only the conventional legal regime. The victims go to a civil court and then have their remedies adjudicated, and we are all conscious of the limitations of our legal system that it almost takes decades, not years, in order to compensate the victims…”
These were ominous words, whose importance one realises only after 10 years when a tragic incident has occurred in Visakhapatnam. The Parliament can still amend the existing laws or legislate a fresh enactment to fill up this major lacuna. While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has already visited the spot and his Government is undertaking necessary relief measures, there still might be individual compensation seekers, whose expectations would have to be suitably addressed.
The number of lawsuits filed in India and abroad after the Bhopal tragedy was so large that a special enactment had to be undertaken. All such matters were transferred to a single judicial forum, which, however, failed to deliver complete justice. So let us not repeat the mistakes of Bhopal and ensure adequate compensation to the victims and those injured in tune with international standards. Compensation for the damage caused to the environment, too, must be made.
(Writer: KK PAUL; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Instead of just doles, compile a migrants’ database, employ them in projects depending on location and decentralise units
Images continue to flood us of the reverse migration brought on by the COVID-19 lockdown, the sudden shutdown of economic activity upturning lives and livelihoods to such an extent that even our shock has been dulled into a fatalistic acceptance. Still there is no actionable plan to return, relocate or rehabilitate migrants. Despite the delayed arrangement of trains and buses, the Government continues to be on the backfoot about managing the economic plight of daily wagers who lost jobs and living quarters overnight. So they march on day and night. Without food and water. Stumbling and falling by the highway as they seek emotional succour in going back to their native villages and live off the land than starve to death, unwanted and uncared for. Yesterday, that pattern of brute reality suffered a further jolt. A cargo train ran over migrants in Maharashtra, who fell exhausted after walking miles and decided to sleep on railway tracks thinking no trains would run during the lockdown. It shows the sheer desperation, hopelessness and a surreal wasteland that COVID-19 has reduced the nation and humanity to. Yet the migrants continue to trudge on along railway tracks and highways, waiting to go home as we fly in stranded Indians home in a massively tom-tommed exercise. Still there is no codified plan to engage with the destitute labourers and rehabilitate them productively or dignify them as equal citizens of India. They don’t have money for trains or buses. Without portable ration cards, they cannot avail the Government’s enhanced food allowances except in their villages. And no matter what the guarantees in zones that are operating units or resuming farm operations, they would much rather sign up for MGNREGA work in their home States, which is seeing a commensurate surge. Treated as virus carriers, disinfected brutely with hoses and dehumanised as Stateless people, the migrant workforce — about two crore people are on the move — is not coming back, causing a chronic shortage of labour and slowing down economic revival.
The return of the native story is playing out among non-resident Indians, too. Many of whom have expired work permits and are facing deportation are being evacuated along with stranded Indians abroad. Even NRIs with valid foreign citizenship are homeward-bound, buying up high end property and country homes in India over the last month, hoping to return once normal flights resume. Each country is going to de-globalise, become insular and build self-sufficiencies with own resources and manpower in a post-pandemic world. So immigrant labourers and NRIs are going to bear the brunt in foreign nations and these returnees are going to stress the economy further. With mounting joblessness in our own country, it will be very difficult to accommodate returnees according to their capacities, skilled or unskilled, or even give them a dole. As the Government is under pressure to announce a significant stimulus, just to roll out working capital to medium and smaller industries, this human bulge poses another crisis. Although the Government bungled in anticipating the lockdown impact on the country’s labour capital, it needs to now get a national migrant database going with a thorough mapping of skill sets and capacities. In the event of a future crisis, such data would help in organising and providing assistance to them wherever they are located. Even help relocate them to work sites that are in need of their services. Given the emotional pull of home during the pandemic and the fact that some have already returned, there needs to be a systematic reintegration plan, whereby those that have been lost are replaced by returnees to their home States. As the mass return of migrants becomes a reality, the Government at all levels should have a contingency plan. Though nobody would like to talk about China’s Wuhan, the local government there has engaged labour effectively in mass-producing FMCG items. We can start import substitution units in the long run but in the short run, we can look at lighter industries, like farm produce processing units and packaging. Start-ups helping in cold chain logistics and aggregation can be incentivised and create smart rural and hub economies which can over time ease off the overflow of labour into big cities. Decentralised federalism holds the key not only in politics but in oiling the economy bottom up.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
While countries slowly open up their economies, corporations indicate that working from home will be the new norm
It is becoming clear as a summer’s day now that the Coronavirus spread is continuing, in India and across the world. While the rate of the spread of the infection may have been mitigated in some countries, the fact is that the world will have to live with the virus. But this will mean that several companies will have to continue their work from home policies. Many big tech companies have already done just that. Google has led the way. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google-parent company Alphabet, told his employees they will likely be working from home until the end of the year. Facebook, too, has allegedly made it clear that it will be reopening its offices from July 6 but the number of employees will be limited to those absolutely necessary. What will this mean for professional relationships? After all, the “office water cooler” was always a place for staff members to gather and swap gossip and stories and even strike up a relationship. The last mentioned aspect is quite clearly on hold, particularly with marriages (and even divorces in some countries) being postponed. What will this mean for office politics and the future of work? In the 1980s, we all assumed that by 2020, we will all have flying cars and working will be automated to a large degree. Well, 40 years ago, we had no idea that the entire world would be brought to a standstill by a microscopic organism. Likewise, not too long ago, there were barriers to working from home. Improvements in communication technology have, however, helped dismantle them now. Given the developments in internet connectivity, virtual world communication has become fast and reliable, too.
While paeans have been sung about telecommuting and working from home at the start of the lockdown, it is becoming frighteningly obvious that this is a privilege that only a few can afford. And not just people but also companies. In many offices, including media organisations, production systems demand that people come to work. These folks are as important as the frontline health and public security officials who have little choice but to come to office. And while it might be months before any organisation gets back to full staffing numbers, make no mistake, many firms themselves will be victims of this gift that came from China. The future of work, whenever it does resume, will be markedly different. But much like the future of anything right now, it will be impossible to predict what life will be like at office in 2021.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
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